Participating in the public hearing hosted by the Puducherry Pollution Control Committee here on Wednesday, former MLA M.G.K. Nizamudeen said the proposed expansion plan was against the interest of the people, particularly fishermen, of Karaikal, Nagapattinam, and Nagore, and that it would cause severe air and water pollution. The ground water quality would be severely hit if the permission was given to the proposal. The public hearing , which was supposed to be conducted by disseminating information widely, was not conducted in a proper manner, he alleged.
P. Kaliammal, an AIADMK functionary, said the existing port had already caused health hazards to the fishermen of Karaikal, Nagapattinam, and the neighbouring areas to fisherfolk in the nearby areas due to the pollution of sea water. The livelihood of the fishing community would be severely hit due to the enhanced port activities, he said.
Draft EIA report
In its draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Master Plan of Karaikal Port, the Karaikal Port Pvt. Ltd. said the existing port was capable of handling dry bulk, general cargo (break bulk), and liquid cargo, with an overall cargo handling capacity of 21.5 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA), and operated five berths without any dedicated containers, liquid/ cryogenic cargo handling facilities. There was a strong need for increasing the handling capacity.To handle the cargo from the neighbouring refinery, which was developing in a big wayin the vicinity of Karaikal port, a Single Point Mooring (SPM) and associated facilities will be installed at 19.5 km from within the sea limit of Karaikal and landfall point at Karaikal Port Area, close to the existing jetty area.
The SPM & offshore/onshore pipeline will be designed to handle crude oil receipt by very large crude carriers. The draft EIA report added that with the creation of various infrastructure, the total cargo handling capacity of the port will be increased from 21.50 MMTPA to 100.3 MMTPA, and the port area from 243 hectares to 492 hectares.
It required additional area for establishing facilities such as material handling, cargo storage/backup, cargo terminals, liquid terminals, operational and utility area, internal connectivity, drainage, greenbelt and buildings.
The draft EIA master plan says that out of 249 hectares of required area, 137.14 hectares of area will be reclaimed land and remaining land of 112.07 hectares will be acquired. It includes 80.99 hectares of private land and 22.36 hectares of Government land. The land acquisition is under progress. The Karaikal Port will also develop a 50 MLD desalination plant within the port premises to meet the water requirement and other purposes. Similarly, a sewage treatment plant of 20 KLD and effluent treatment plant of 134 KLD have also been proposed to treat the wastewater.