More than 80 hurt as Indian police clash with Adani port protesters
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Police attacked protesters, among whom were some priests, said Mr Eugine H. Pereira, the vicar-general of the archdiocese.
PHOTO: REUTERS
KOCHI, India – More than 80 people were wounded in southern India as villagers halting a US$900 million (S$1.2 billion) port project of the Adani Group
The protests are a major headache for Mr Gautam Adani’s US$23 billion ports-and-logistics company, which has been forced to stop work on the Vizhinjam seaport that is seen as winning business from rivals in Dubai, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
Construction has been halted for more than three months after villagers blocked the entrance to the site, blaming the port for causing coastal erosion and depriving them of their livelihoods.
Over the weekend, police arrested several protesters after they blocked Mr Adani’s construction vehicles from entering the port, despite a court order for work to resume.
The arrests prompted hundreds of protesters, led by Roman Catholic priests, to march to the police station, where they clashed with personnel and damaged vehicles, according to police documents and footage on local television.
Senior local police official M.R. Ajith Kumar told Reuters 36 officers were wounded in the clashes. Mr Joseph Johnson, one of the protest leaders, said at least 46 protesters were also hurt.
Located on the southern tip of India, the port seeks to plug into lucrative East-West trade routes, adding to the global reach of the business led by billionaire Adani, estimated by Forbes to be the world’s third-richest man.
Asked about the latest protest, the Adani Group did not immediately comment.
The company has said that the port complies with all laws and cited studies that show it is not linked to shoreline erosion. The state government has also said that any erosion was due to natural causes.
The protests have continued despite repeated orders by the top court in Kerala state to allow construction to start. Police have largely been unwilling to take any action, fearful that doing so will set off social and religious tensions.
In the latest clashes, police documents said the protesters “came with lethal weapons and barged into the station and held the police hostage, threatening that if people in custody were not released they would set the station on fire”.
Mr Eugine Pereira, the vicar-general of the archdiocese and a protest leader, said the police pelted the protesters with stones.
The port protests recall the backlash Mr Adani faced in Australia over his Carmichael coal mine. There, activists concerned about carbon emissions and damage to the Great Barrier Reef forced Mr Adani to downsize production targets and delayed the mine’s first coal shipment by six years. REUTERS
