Flaying the Centre for approving offshore mining in Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel the tenders issued for these mining blocks. He also mentioned that besides Gujarat, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar will suffer since their fisherfolk will be deprived of livelihood.
In his letter to the PM, Gandhi said that fishing communities, including those along Gujarat’s coast, who depend on healthy marine life, have raised alarms about the negative impacts of mining activities. He said stakeholders must be taken into confidence, especially the fisherfolk, who are also at the heart of Gujarat’s coastal economy.
Gandhi added that coastal communities have been protesting against how tenders for offshore mining have been floated without evaluating their environmental impact. He said millions of fisherfolk have expressed grave concerns about its impact on their livelihood and way of life.
He emphasised that it was worrisome to open up offshore mining blocks to private companies without doing a thorough analysis of all the potential consequences. He recalled that research had shown that it had negative effects, such as endangering marine life and harming coral reefs.
“It’s this backdrop, when the Ministry of Mines invited tenders for grant of license for 13 offshore blocks, protests erupted against the arbitrary move. Among the 13 blocks are three blocks for mining construction sand in the coast of Kollan, a vital fish breeding habitat, and three blocks for polymetallic nodules off the coast of the Great Nicobar islands, a marine biodiversity hotspot,” Gandhi wrote in the letter, published by a media house.
Gandhi has highlighted that the ongoing survey of the Marine Monitoring Lab (MML) of the University of Kerala’s Department of Aquatic Biology & Fisheries found that offshore mining could have a devastating impact on fish breeding, especially in Kollam. Gandhi added that more than 11 lakh people rely on fishing in Kerala, and Great Nicobar is globally recognised for harbouring diverse ecosystems and is home to several endemic species of wildlife.
“Any damage due to offshore mining could potentially do irreparable damage. At a juncture where erosion of our coastal ecosystems has worsened the impact of natural calamities like cyclones, it is concerning that the government is willfully greenlighting activities without a scientific assessment,” Gandhi wrote in the letter.
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