The decision to postpone the public hearing comes amid strong opposition from the environmental groups, local public and opposition parties over the expansion of Kattupalli Port which was acquired by Adani Ports.

In an official release, the Collector said the public hearing which was scheduled on January 22 at Bhagavaan Mahaveer Auditorium, Shree Chandraprabhu Jain College, Minjur, has been postponed because “members of the public are expected to gather at the venue and it’s against COVID protocols. The public hearing will be conducted on a later date, which will be intimated in due course.” G Sunderrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal welcomed the government’s decision to cancel the public hearing. He had petitioned the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board seeking the cancellation stating that the proposed location of the port on a barrier island violates the coastal regulatory zone notification. “The State Coastal Zone Management Authority and TNPCB, as regulators, cannot be a party to facilitating a violation. The proposal should be returned immediately,” it said.

Nityanand Jayaraman, an environmental activist added that the project is set to come upon wetlands and ecologically fragile sand dunes on the Kattupalli Barrier island near the Pulicat Wildlife Sanctuary. The company’s proposal for a mega port is illegal on several counts.

DMK MP K Kanimozhi said that the plan that Adani Ports submitted to develop Kattupalli port contains major issues that the government needs to carefully assess.

The government shouldn’t take flooding, ecological damage and threats to the livelihood of the local population lightly.

Tamil Nadu needs to invest in industrial development, but it can’t come at the cost to ecology and the environment. MDMK and CPI (M) also opposed the port expansion project