Tharoor seeks amicable solution to port row

TRIVANDRUM: Senior Congress leader Dr Shashi Tharoor has said he was not in favour of deploying federal forces to resume construction of Gautam Adani’s international port here.

On Friday, Justice Anu Sivaraman of the Kerala High Court sought the response of the state and federal governments on the Adani Ports’ demand for federal forces.

She had ordered police to clear the protesters and provide protection for “unhindered ingress and egress” of vehicles to the project site.

However, they failed to remove the protesters and the skirmishes that followed led to a mob of anglers storing the local police station last week hurting many officers.

The port business arm of the world’s top third billionaire moved the court again, seeking federal forces to resume work and the state government is supporting their demand.

“Now what we need is an amicable solution to the issues, not a confrontation with the local community,” Dr Tharoor, who represents the constituency in the Parliament, said.

“I met the chief minister (Pinarayi Vijayan) on Aug.16 when the strike began and told him that if he personally intervenes, it should have been solved very easily.”

The fishing community has been laying a blockade at the port site, 16 km away from the city, for the past 108 days demanding the rehabilitation of families let homeless. They also want the construction of the port to be stopped and a study on the impact of the construction on the environment, alleging that it has led to massive coastal erosion.

Tharoor said he had detailed discussions with archbishop Neto, auxiliary archbishop Christudas and vicar general Eugene Pereira and apprised Vijayan of their concerns.

These priests, supporting the agitation of the predominantly Catholic fishing community, are among some 3,000 people booked on charges of various offences, including rioting.

The lawmaker said it had been three months since he took up the issue with the chief minister but the authorities failed to take the agitators into confidence.

Reiterating that he did not support the demand of abandoning the project, he said the state should honour its commitments to the community made seven years back.

“It’s true that the fishing community are facing many challenges and they need to be addressed. If it’s because of the port project, it needs to be examined later,” he said.

“What I’m seeing and hearing is very sad atempts to create a rit between people, the events at the police station and the booking of highly respected priests. Are they right?”