MoEF panel defers Honnavar port road project, to inspect site

The controversial project to build a four-lane road on Honnavar's Kasarakod beach has been deferred with the Union environment ministry noting that the project proponent has failed to justify the need to build a road on the seaward side and didn't submit an environment management plan (EMP).

Ports and Inland Water Transport Department, Baithkol, Karwar had proposed to build a four-lane road to connect an upcoming Honnavar Port on the beach with the National Highway - 66. The project is estimated to cost Rs 138.12 crore with a budget of Rs 1.91 crore proposed for the EMP.

While department said the proposed 2.58 km road was in the vicinity of "ecological sensitive areas like mangroves, sand dunes and turtle nesting ground", activists have long contested that the project proponents were not providing full information, especially with regarding the sea turtle nesting areas on the Kasarkod beach.

An expert committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) that reviews the projects falling in the CRZ noted that the project activity was permissible under the rules and was recommended by the Karnataka coastal zone management authority.

"However, (the) proponent has not submitted a detailed Marine Conservation Plan and not provided proper justification for the need of this road on the seaward side rather than the landward side of the existing village road," the committee noted.

The committee further recommended that a sub committee should inspect the site to understand the factual status of the project.

Prakash Mestha, a marine biologist who has been trying to highlight the environmental concerns, said that by locating the project in the inter-tidal region, the authorities have endangered the sea turtles. "There is evidence to show that the area proposed to build the road was conserved since 1994 to protect the sea turtles, especially the olive ridley. Unfortunately, the information has been suppressed to facilitate the project," he said.