THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former Ports Minister M Vijayakumar on Sunday termed baseless Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh’s statement that the Terms of Reference (ToR) for EIA for the multi-crore Vizhinjam Port would be cleared soon. In a statement here, Vijayakumar said that the Project Appraisal Committee of the MoEF has again rejected the ToR application submitted by Kerala.According to him, the committee, which met on May 11 and May 12, had rejected the ToR. The minutes of the 100th meeting of the committee clearly says that the committee has declined approval again. In addition to the reasons given at the 95th meeting denying clearance, the committee has found one more reason this time, Vijayakumar said. ‘’Now the justification for denying clearance is the proposed port’s proximity to the Vizhinjam fishing harbour. They have also repeated the reasons given at the 95th meeting,’’ Vijayakumar said.The report of the 95th meeting had urged the State to undertake detailed studies regarding the environmental impact of the port project. It also mentioned that several port projects were being planned on the Kerala and Tamil Nadu shores which could accelerate environmental degradation. The State was asked to conduct a detailed shoreline study using satellite-based surveys. The then LDF government had construed this as an attempt to scuttle the Vizhinjam project in favour of the Tuticorin and Colachal port projects in Tamil Nadu.‘’It is interesting to note that the MoEF secretary itself chairs the appraisal committee. It is clear that a conspiracy has taken place,’’ Vijayakumar said.The ToR, Vijayakumar said, was prepared jointly by the Netherlands-based Royal Haskoning and Chennai-based L&T Ramboll for the Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd, the State Government company overseeing the project. The LDF government had decided to implement the project on ‘Landlord Model’ and fund it through a consortium of banks led by the SBT.
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