Youth collective protests expansion of Kattupalli Port through art

Youth collective protests expansion of Kattupalli Port through art

It is shocking that the expansion of Kattupalli Port has not been halted despite the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) deeming it unnecessary, said Thol. Thirumavalavan, founder of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) on Friday. 

A two-day art exhibition called ‘Strokes of Solidarity’, organised by the Chennai Climate Action Group (CCAG), a youth collective, has opened at the Art Kin Centre with over 150 artworks by children, professional artists, and concerned citizens against the expansion of the Adani Kattupalli Port on display. 

Visiting the exhibition, Mr. Thirumavalavan said the artwork show the damage that would befall Pazhaverkadu, surrounding villages, and Chennai city if the port were to be expanded. “VCK and other political parties have been opposing the project and protesting against it,” he said and called for increased awareness among the public about the threats to the local ecosystem due to the proposed expansion of the Kattupalli Port. 

Apart from paintings and digital illustrations, printouts of DMK leaders, including Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, and other parties opposing the project in 2020 and 2021 on social media were displayed. The team also put forth two demands to the State government - to notify the Kattupalli-Pulicat stretch as a high eroding coast and to notify 10 kilometre radius of the Pulicat Bird Sanctuary as eco-sensitive zone. 

Author Shalin Maria Lawrence, who inaugurated the exhibition with musicians T.M. Krishna and Sangeetha Sivakumar, recalled her experiences of visiting Pazhaverkadu in her childhood and said the project, and the resultant displacement and rehabilitation of fisherfolk, would not just lead to loss of livelihoods but also traditional skillsets. “Lives and people’s culture are intertwined with the environment of Pulicat,” she said. 

Mr. Krishna, addressing a group of students from the Abacus Montessori School at the exhibition, said the potential employment opportunities from the expanded port would not match the number of people losing their livelihoods. He also questioned the need for new jobs from a port and why the State is not ready to support their subsistence.