Vizhinjam Seaport runs into rough weather

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When the fledgling United Democratic Front Government jubilantly announced that it had obtained clearance for the terms of reference for conducting the environmental impact assessment for the multi-crore Vizhinjam seaport project, it was only announcing half the truth.In reality, the Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests has given only a conditional clearance whose consequences will delay the project for ages. The minutes of the May 31 meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee clearly says that it has issued only a 'project specific ToR' and that too 'considering public interest' (read political pressure from the Congress led UDF Government on the Centre).The committee says the clearance is not 'site specific' and has repeated its demand that the Kerala Government should clarify as to why the proposed site was selected and why other options were not studied in detail.This is what the committee says: "The committee, considering public interest decided to issue a projectspecific ToR (non sitespecific) and, after narrowing down the site based on the site selection criteria, shall issue additional sitespecific ToR.''