Fishermen unions to hold hartal on Febraury 27 against offshore mining in Kerala

Addressing the media after a meeting on Friday, committee chairperson and Congress leader T N Prathapan said that all fishermen and fish distributors from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram would fully support and participate in the hartal.

Thiruvananthapuram: With the Centre going ahead with the offshore sea sand mining from three blocks off the Kerala coast, the state is all set to witness a major protest.

Various forums representing people of the coastal areas, especially those involved in fishing activities, have decided to observe a coastal hartal on February 27.

The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala also conveyed the concerns over the offshore sea sand mining to the Centre. Various other pro-Left forums of fishermen have also announced stirs against the move.

Congress leader and former MP T N Prathapan, who announced the hartal after a meeting of the coordination committee of various organisations of the coastal community on Friday, urged the Kerala government to pass a resolution in the state assembly against the sea sand mining as it poses serious environmental impact and will hit the livelihood of the fishermen community. "We will resist offshore sand mining at any cost," he said on Friday.

The Centre has already invited tenders for mining at three blocks off the Kollam coast with a total area of 242 square kilometers. It is estimated that around 302 million tonnes of construction sand will be available in the three blocks. The depth of mining ranges from 48.4 metre to 62.4 metre.

Kollam bank is known for its rich marine resources like shrimp, which has huge export potential. There are serious concerns that the mining activities will affect the ecology of the Kollam bank, leading to depletion of the marine resources.

With an amendment in the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act in 2023, the powers of offshore mining are with the Centre. Hence, the royalty from the mining will go to the Centre.

The state government had conveyed to the Centre that the offshore mining was against the state's interests. The decision to carry out the offshore sand mining was taken without any detailed study on its environmental impact, the state government pointed out during a road show conducted by the ministry of mines in Kochi earlier this month.

The Centre decided to carry out the offshore sand mining on the basis of a study of the Geological Survey of India. The study found the presence of sand suitable for construction at five spots across Kerala. The total resource is estimated at around 750 million tonnes.

The Union government is now auctioning a total of 13 blocks. Apart from the three blocks in Kerala, three blocks of lime mud off the Gujarat coast and seven blocks of Polymetallic nodules and crusts off the Great Nicobar island coast are being auctioned. The auction process is scheduled to be over by April 9.