In the broad channel between two parallel breakwaters, where the Muthalapozhi lake meets the Arabian Sea, 68 fishermen have died in the last eight years. The last four were killed on July 10, when their boat was thrown up by the waves as it was about to enter the sea from the channel, a water path now ominously known among fisherfolk as the 'mouth of death'.

The 'rock and tetrapod'-bordered channel is a picture of violent chaos during the rainy season. It is mostly the result of a tug-of-war. The sea waves surge into the channel from the west and, as if locked in a duel, an equally powerful lake drift pushes back from the east.

What makes this tussle deadly is the accumulation of sand under water. The sand deposited by both the lake and the sea form underwater hillocks on which waves from both sides strike and rise up like a curse. Boats caught in this tumult get shredded instantly.

The best way to keep the channel safe, therefore, is to remove the accumulated sand. This responsibility now lies with Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited (AVPPL). Under an MoU signed with the Harbour Engineering Department (HED) in 2018, Adani Ports was tasked with dredging the 'navigation channel' and maintaining its depth at 5 metres, so that fishing boats do not even scrape its base on sand or rock.

Keeping the channel free of sand hillocks was the only condition asked of Adani Ports when it was offered free land just south of the left Muthalapozhi breakwater to construct a berth where rocks sourced from quarries within and outside Kerala could be stocked before being moved in barges to the Vizhinjam port site.

Adani Ports has not kept its side of the bargain in the last two years.

(A breakwater is a wall-like structure made of rocks and tetrapods that is laid perpendicular to the shore and deep into the sea to prevent erosion)

Half-kept promise

The AVPPL sources were unwilling to talk on the issue but Onmanorama has a recent note Adani Ports has sent Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) on the 'Upkeep of Muthalapozhi Navigation Channel and Fisheries Berth'.

The note speaks of the arrangements made to dredge sand from the channel in the initial years. "During the period of 2018-19, Grab Dredger ShantiSagar-14 were deployed for the upkeep. During the period of 2019-20 and 2020-21 Cutter Suction Dredger Shanti Sagar – XI were deployed. Subsequently in 2021-22, Cutter Suction Dredger Shanti Sagar-XIII was deployed. For the upkeep of basin area at berth, grab dredger and similar arrangement were made on a continuous basis," the note said.

This holds true only till 2021. The HED executive engineer, Anil Kumar, said that the AVPPL had not carried out dredging operations in the last two years.

"It is their responsibility to maintain the channel depth at 5 metres and this has been ignored for two years. It is the resultant sand accumulation that has made the channel extremely dangerous for fishermen in the area," the executive engineer said. "Adani Ports should have carried out dredging operations before the monsoon hits, during January, February and March months. But nothing was done," the HED engineer said.

Favour or obligation

On July 5, just when the southwest monsoon looked resurgent, fisheries minister Saji Cherian had convened an urgent meeting of stakeholders in Muthalapozhi. At the meeting, the AVPPL agreed to conduct dredging operations after the season, in September.

Nonetheless, the AVPPL now blames Cyclone Tauktae and Kerala government for not taking up dredging work after 2021. "Due to Cyclone Tauktae of May 2021, the southern breakwater at Muthalapozhi (maintained by Harbour Engineering Department) got damaged and the damage resulted in boulders falling near the channel area," the AVPPL note said.

The Adani company argued that the upkeep of the breakwater is the HED's responsibility. The HED had in fact floated tenders for the removal of boulders that had fallen into the channel from the breakwaters on either side. And this was cited as proof by the AVPPL that the HED was the "principal agency responsible for upkeep of breakwater".

Then, making it sound like a favour, the AVPPL said: "As a goodwill gesture, AVPPL agreed to reimburse half the cost to be incurred by HED."

The HED executive engineer laughs away Adani's assertion. "We agreed to float the tender only because the Adani group agreed to fund the process. They are now twisting facts. As long as the MoU is in force, the HED cannot carry out dredging or other activities in the area. It would amount to duplication," Anil Kumar said.

Now, the contractor who won the tender has refused to start work citing monsoon-related difficulties. To not come to the rescue of the fishermen, everyone seems to have an excuse.

Way out: Sand bypassing

The HED official said that the Department was waiting for the MoU to lapse in May 2024 to begin "sand bypassing" operations. Sand bypassing involves removal of sand from sumptuous beach areas to erosion-hit stretches.

In Muthalapozhi's case, it means the removal of sand from the areas just south of the left breakwater where the beach is incrementally widening to fast-vanishing beaches up north in places like Thazhampally, Poothura and Anchuthengu.

It is a widely observed phenomenon that sand accumulates in areas just south of a man-made structure that blocks the natural movement of the sea - say a harbour or port or breakwater - and depletes in the north.

At Muthalapozhi, it is the area created by the accumulation of sand that the Adani company has been granted for free to stock its rocks. It is sand from this area that has to be transported to shore up the northern beaches. As long as Adani stays, sand bypassing will not happen.

Reputed ocean scientists like A J Vijayan had spoken of 'sand bypassing' as the best bet to solve the Muthalapozhi crisis.

"You don't have to dredge the channel. Sand bypassing prevents sand accumulation in the channel. This has to be done on a continuous basis. When sand is removed from the southern side, it creates enough space for more sand to pile up. Otherwise, this sand would clog the channel. And by depositing the excess sand in the northern parts, beaches can be revived," Vijayan said.

He said sand bypassing was recommended even by the Pune-based Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) in its report submitted in 2011. "The government implemented one of the recommendations in the report, of increasing the length of the breakwater. But it did not carry out the sand bypassing part," Vijayan said. "Then, it was said the government was short of funds," he said. The first Pinarayi Vijayan ministry was in place and J Mercikutty Amma was the fisheries minister.

Vijayan said sand bypassing was not a costly affair as was made out by the authorities.

The Visakhapatnam Port Trust does it in association with the Dredging Corporation of India. Over 2 lakh cubic metres of sand is removed from the southern portions of the Visakhapatnam port and deposited in the northern parts to stabilise the Rama Krishna (RK) Beach. Even such a massive operation costs just Rs 15 crore annually, Vijayan said.