The groundswell of support cutting across party and creed lines for the Vizhinjam international seaport and container transhipment terminal project was evident in an interaction the visiting Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr Jairam Ramesh, had with representatives of local people on Monday.

The Minister had taken time off his busy schedule in Delhi at a time when trouble was brewing in an Orissa (now Odisha) outback where the residents were up in arms against the alleged move to forcibly acquire land for the proposed mega integrated steel plant by South Korean major Posco.

In fact, Mr Ramesh had to warn the Orissa Government against using environmental clearance as a ruse to acquire land for the project.

But the story was entirely different when he travelled down South to inspect the site for the long-pending, multi-thousand crore seaport and container transhipment terminal project, which too entails massive evacuation of men and material.

At the interaction held at the Government Inspection Bungalow, not too far from the project site, local people belonging to the vulnerable fishermen community spoke in unison in support of the project.

Speaker after speaker extolled the virtues that would accrue to the local business and economy. They also appreciated the thousands of job opportunities that the port and container transhipment terminal project would throw up in due course.

In fact, a prominent politician and a former member of the Assembly representing the local constituency along with a combative Minister of the host State sought to shout down an Environmental Impact Assessment expert who had accompanied the Minister from New Delhi.

The expert had taken exception to the manner in which Central support was being drummed up for the project, which needed to be put through strict ‘ecological and environmental' paces.

The threat to local fish wealth and marine biology was also highlighted, but was largely inaudible in the loud buzz raised by the rest of the assemblage.

Local officials told the Minister of State for Environment and Forests that Vizhinjam would become a viable proposition as and when it manages to corner at least 12 per cent of the transhipment business being regionally outsourced to the Colombo port.

At the end of the day, they managed to convince him into approving the terms of reference for the Environmental Impact Assessment study, which was announced to newspersons later in the Capital.

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