![\"map](\"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/map3-pulicat-lake.png\")
<\/a>Three ports are located south of Pulicat Lake, which straddles the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The nearest port, in Kattupalli, is expected to expand substantially\u2014pending a decision by India\u2019s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Map data by OpenStreetMap via ArcGIS<\/p><\/div>\n
People from across Tamil Nadu have seen similar consequences from other construction projects. Slightly farther south of Pulicat Lake, the coast near the Port of Chennai has eroded by 350 hectares since it was built in the mid-1800s, according to a 2006 report by India\u2019s Ministry of Earth Sciences<\/a>. The report warned that erosion caused by the Chennai port was increasing wave action that was disturbing the shoals that protect the lake from the sea. \u201cIf no intervention is planned, a threat to ecologically sensitive Pulicat Lake is inevitable,\u201d the report said. Similarly, India\u2019s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) noted last year that an existing breakwater at the Kattupalli port has caused more than 300 meters of coastal erosion in Kalanji, a nearby village.<\/p>\n The port expansion would further drive the existential threat to the region caused by climate change. Maps developed using new elevation data show that 35 million Indians are at risk of annual flooding by 2050<\/a>, including those living in Chennai and in three other coastal cities. Regions north of Chennai, including those bordering the lake, are particularly vulnerable to this flooding, according to mapping by Climate Central<\/a>, a nonprofit science and news organization.<\/p>\n A. Mugan, a fisherman and engineer, remembers when festivals were once organized on the beach outside of a temple south of the lake. \u201cNow, there is hardly any space,\u201d he says. The temple is dilapidated, and people have grown fearful of living on the shore. Breaking with tradition, village elders are now advising locals not to build houses along the sea. \u201cThe sea is coming closer right in front of our eyes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Among the people from dozens of nearby villages who have come together to oppose the proposal by APSEZ to expand the port in Kattupalli is K. Saravanan, a fisherman and activist from Chennai. Equipped with maps and a keen understanding of traditional fishing wisdom, Saravanan has presented APSEZ and MoEFCC with charts showing land and revenue that have been lost to the sea because of previous port construction.<\/p>\n This work, along with a letter-writing campaign and protests organized by the fishing community and people from potentially affected villages, has forced APSEZ and the government to respond, Saravanan says. The government has sent a committee to take stock of the concerns, which were first raised in October, before it makes a decision regarding APSEZ\u2019s bid to expand the port. \u201cThe environmental impact assessment, which is underway, will have to consider the issues we raised,\u201d Saravanan says.<\/p>\n Rajalakshmi is not ready to give up her village, or her prawn curry, and Saravanan is confident that the community\u2019s pushback is having an effect. Although APSEZ is hugely powerful, he says it\u2019s telling that it took the company three tries to receive the necessary document to launch an environmental impact assessment. \u201cThis shows the power of public pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rajalakshmi takes pride in her prawn gravy. The trick, she says, is to add prawns to a boiling pot of gravy as soon as her husband comes home, usually in the wee hours of the morning, with a fresh catch <\/p>\n