Dredging continues posing irreversible impact on the area.
"We find this reluctance to suspend dredging inconsistent with
TATA Steel's commitments to reconsider the project if an
independent study were to indicate an environmental threat from the
port" said Ashish Fernandes, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace. "It is
illogical to expect a biological assessment of the area to go on
even as large scale habitat alteration from dredging and
landfilling continues," he added.
The year 2008 saw heightened protests and over 100,000
Greenpeace cyber activists calling on TATAs to relocate the port.
In response, at the TATA Steel AGM in August 2008, Mr. Ratan Tata
committed to a dialogue process with Greenpeace and other
organisations (1). The negotiations involved the need to suspend
construction pending an independent and comprehensive biological
threat assessment of the Dhamra Port on adjoining areas, including
Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary and Bitharkanika National Park. These
protected areas harbour rare species such as the olive ridley
turtle and the saltwater crocodile.
More recently, a Greenpeace snap-poll of 5000 TATA customers,
conducted between 16 and 24 February, 2009, revealed that 98%
believed that port construction should be stopped immediately. MPs
and politicians across party lines have also written to the
Ministry of Environment at the Centre, raising concerns over the
port's impacts and seeking its intervention. (2)
Commenting on the impasse, Belinda Wright, Executive Director,
Wildlife Protection Society of India said, "The TATAs reluctance to
suspend dredging does not make sense as this would create a fait
accompli and prejudice the results of any assessment. Stopping the
dredging is essential for any study to be meaningful, as this may
be causing irreversible impacts to the area and could even be
preventing the turtles from nesting."
"It seems that while TATA's are making positive statements, they
are unwilling to back these up on the ground. We are still hopeful
that TATA's will demonstrate as much concern for the health of the
environment as they do for their balance sheets. The best way to do
this is by suspending construction, specifically dredging pending
the independent assessment that is needed," Fernandes
concluded.
For further information, contact
Ashish Fernandes, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace India, 
,
+91-99801 9930
Saumya Tripathi, Communications Officer, Greenpeace India, 
,
+91-93438 62212
Ankur Ganguly, Greenpeace Communications, Greenpeace India, 
,
+91-98453 73818
Notes to Editor
1) The organisations that have interacted with TATA’s in the course of this dialogue process include the Wildlife Protection Society of India, Wildlife Society of Orissa, the National Fishworkers Forum, Sanctuary Asia, Conservation Action Trust, WWF-India, Reefwatch Marine Conservation and Greenpeace.
2) For Letters from MPs and other stakeholders concerned about the Development of Dhamra Port to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, refer http://greenpeace.in/turtle/