The tourism industry in the Vizhinjam-Kovalam region is concerned by the impact the proposed Vizhinjam port may have on their flourishing industry.
They recently met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to request the government not to 'kill the goose that lays the golden egg' while going after the 'foolish' urge to implement what is being showcased as a dream project.
The South Kerala Hoteliers’ Forum (SKHF), representing the interests of the tourism industry in the area, told the Chief Minister that the coming of the port would mean the immediate closure of 31 big and small tourist resorts stretching from Vizhinjam to Adimalathura 2.3 km away.
Together, these resorts have 832 rooms and they employ nearly 3,000 people directly as per a report in The Hindu. The breakwater structures to be constructed for the shipping channel would stretch from Vizhinjam to even beyond Adimalathura, parallel to the coast.
The forum, said the port would have a destructive impact on the tourism in Kovalam also. Kerala Tourism is known all over the world for the beauty that is Kovalam Beach, which is just a couple of kilometres to the north of Vizhinjam.
Quoting experts, the forum said the dynamics of the sea currents along the southern stretch of the Kerala coast was such that there would be erosion of the coast to the north of any breakwater constructed into the sea and accretion of sand along the stretch lying to the south. This is the experience noticed in the case of all the minor breakwaters constructed along the south Kerala coast.
So Kovalam coast, lying immediately to the north of the proposed port, might experience erosion. Further, oil spills from the ships visiting the port would reach the sea off the nearby Kovalam coast spoiling the place for sunbathing and swimming.
There are more than 150 hotels, resorts and home stay facilities with a total of 2,750 rooms in Kovalam, directly employing more than 10,000 people. The total market value of established tourism infrastructure in south Kerala will come to more than Rs.20,000 crore, according the forum’s assessment.
The forum said it did not believe the contention of the supporters of the port project that a cruise liner terminal that would come with the project would increase the flow of tourists to Kovalam. Once the natural ambience was gone, tourists would keep away from the place, the forum feared.
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