• The port is considered to be potentially well positioned to capture business from the ports of Sri Lanka, Singapore and Dubai
KOCHI: Protesters from a fishermen community blocked efforts by India's Adani Group to resume work on a $900 million transshipment port in southern India, a company spokesman said on Saturday, prolonging a standoff. The development of the port has stopped.
Construction at Adani's Vizhinjam port in Kerala state on India's southern tip has been stalled for more than three months after protesters, mostly led by Christian and Catholic priests, blocked the entrance to a large shelter saying They believed that port development has caused coastal erosion and deprived them of their livelihood.
The Adani group, led by Gautam Adani, the world's third-richest man, attempted to move heavy vehicles into the port on Saturday following a court directive this week that construction work should resume, but protesters blocked them from entering. given, a spokesman for Adani in the southern state of Kerala told Reuters.
The spokesman said that around 25 trucks had tried to enter the port and were forced to turn back after being hit by stones thrown by the protesters.
Calls to senior state police officials remained unanswered.
Television footage from local news outlet Manorama showed dozens of police officers in riot gear stationed outside the port and arguing with protesters. A group of protesting women were also seen lying on the road leading to the port.
"We won't let them in," a protester was seen shouting at police officers near the port entrance.
The Adani Group has maintained that the project was in full compliance with all laws and several studies in recent years have debunked allegations linking the project to shoreline erosion. The Kerala state government maintains that the erosion was caused by natural calamities.
The standoff is a major headache for Adani, which runs a $23 billion port and logistics business and has touted the port's "unparalleled location" on a major global shipping route. The port is considered to be potentially well positioned to win business from ports in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Dubai.
In recent months, the Adani group has repeatedly sought relief from a Kerala state court, which has said that the port's entry and exit should not be blocked, but protesters have refused to relent.
Joseph Johnson, a protesting fisherman, told Reuters on Saturday, "We will not remove the protest shelter, no matter what. This is a matter of our lives."
The 1,200-square-foot structure, with a corrugated iron roof and banners proclaiming "indefinite day and night protest", has blocked the port's entrance since August. A previous attempt by Adani to move the trucks out of the port in October had also failed.
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