Adani Port
\n Kerala
\nA mob stormed a police station in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Sunday night, injuring 36 police officers, as months of protests against a port project escalated into violence.
\nThe port is being built by Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, owned by Asia\u2019s richest man, Gautam Adani.
\nProtesters, mostly local fishermen, have alleged that the $900m (\u00a3744m) project is causing coastal erosion and destroying their livelihoods.
\nThe company has denied the allegations.
\nThe protests have been going on for more than 100 days but had been largely peaceful until now. Many of the protesters say their homes have been destroyed by coastal erosion, forcing them to live in temporary shelters.
\nThe company, however, has said that the project complies with environmental laws and that sea erosion is occurring due to climate change.
\nLast week, the Kerala high court had said that the protesters must comply with its earlier order to allow \u201cunhindered ingress and egress\u201d to the project site.
\nBut over the weekend, protesters blocked the company\u2019s vehicles from entering the construction site, prompting police to arrest some of them.
\nOn Sunday night, hundreds of protesters stormed the local police station, leading to clashes with the police.
\n\u201cA mob gathered at the police station in the evening and demanded the release of a few persons who were arrested in another case,\u201d a senior state police official told reporters, adding that they had deployed around 900 police personnel in the area.
\nSeveral protesters were also injured, and some police vehicles were damaged. Around 3,000 people have been charged by police in connection with the violence.
\nBut Eugene H Pereira, a vicar general who was one of the convenors of the protest, blamed the police for provoking the protesters who, he said \u201cwere ready to leave the area without creating any trouble\u201d.
\n\u201cThe state government is responsible for the violence. They were doing it to prepare the ground for forcible eviction of the protesters,\u201d he alleged.
\nA state minister denied this, and accused the protesters of stalling the project even after the government had agreed to meet their demands.
\n\u201cThey want the port project – which is in an advanced stage of construction – to be abandoned entirely. But that\u2019s not going to benefit them at all,\u201d he told the BBC.
\nAfter the violence, the Adani Group approached the state\u2019s high court, which on Monday asked the government to file a report.
\nAn Adani official told the BBC on condition of anonymity that the company had suffered damages of around 800m rupees ($9.8m; \u00a38.1m) so far due to the blockade, which has gone on for more than 104 days.
\nAdani Ports, India\u2019s largest port operator, signed the deal in 2015 to build the port at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala\u2019s capital city.
\nThe company operates nine feeder ports across India and the Vizhinjam port is expected to meet all its transhipment requirements once ready.
\nIt has said that the port, once completed, would be \u201cIndia\u2019s gateway to international transhipment\u201d due to its proximity to international shipping routes.
\nThe port was initially scheduled to be opened in 2019 but work was delayed after a deadly cyclone hit the state in 2017, and due to a shortage in construction material. It is now set to open in September 2023.
\nThe opposition Congress party, which was in power when the deal was signed, alleged that the current government had \u201cignored\u201d a rehabilitation package for displaced people which was originally part of the agreement.
\n\u201cI have visited these shelters and they are living in the most pathetic situation that I have ever seen in my life,\u201d said party leader VD Satheesan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Adani Port Kerala A mob stormed a police station in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Sunday night, injuring 36 police officers, as months of protests against a port project escalated into violence. The port is being built by Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, owned by Asia\u2019s richest man, Gautam Adani. Protesters, mostly local […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298080,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-298053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n