Bekal Tourism Project: An SOS call Volume II Issue 4 November 96

Tourism authorities are moving ahead with the mega Bekal Tourism Project inspite of peoples’ protests. Bekal, located in the northern-most rural coastal district of Kasaragod in Keralam, the authorities boast of converting this region into Asia’s largest beach tourism resort consisting of 6500 resort units by the year 2011. The total plan outlay for this project is estimated at Rs 24,694,000. Four fishing panchayats would be completely wiped out by the time of completion of this project. In every respect these fishing villages are the most sustainable, with fishing, fish related trade, agriculture, coconut plantations and tobacco cultivation.
Average population density in rural Keralam is 747 persons per sq.km. but in the tourism development area it is 1159 persons per sq.km! Work participation rate for Keralam is 32.05% but that of Kasaragod district is 33.25%. Women directly employed in fishing related activities in the state average to 1.7% only. But in Kasargod district coast it is 29.6%. The per capita fish consumption is higher than the national average in this region.
Unlike in other part of the state where cropped area is being decimated due to urbanisation, Kasaragod district has the unique feature of having increased the gross cropped area from 1,35,000 ha to 1,43,000 ha. in the last 5 years. Tourism industry requires 462 ha. of land for its construction activities alone in this fertile land. It also proposes an airport, buffer land zones and exclusive zone for railways and roads ranging from 500 mts to 20 mts on either sides and even talks about ‘sealed roads’!
By the time this project is completed in 2011 its water demand will be 47 million litres per day. Eighty percent of this would end up as waste-water which means 38 million litres per day will have to be treated for reuse. This resort would produce 58 tons of solid waste every day. There will be 6400 streetlights alone in this project! This is envisaged in a state where even during the monsoon period powercut and load-shedding are a routine affair.
The arrogance of the state and tourism authorities is that this mammoth project does not have a master plan till date or it is kept as a secret document. One ‘Techno Economic Feasibility study and a ‘Tourism Led Urban Structure plan had been prepared at the cost of Rs.55 lakhs. For the past one year this has been projected as the master plan. (All the statistics are from the above documents) This project till date has no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The project would grossly violate all Coastal Regulation Zone rules, since resorts are planned at 200 mt hightide line and on the banks of backwater and river sides. Repeated requests from local communities for a proper hearing of their side had been made into sham hearings by the authorities.
Repeated pleas from intellectuals, environmentalists and other peoples’ groups to put a stop to this disastrous project is scorned both by the earlier Congress and the present Marxist ministries.
A writ appeal petition is pending in the Kerala High Court since December 1995, filed by Bekal Protection Committee seeking for a stay order for want of a master plan and EIA and the right to information. This project is highly objectionable since it would come under the Special Tourism Area (STA) under which Bekal Development Authority had been constituted. This would supersede the powers of existing local panchayats. There is no clarity on the powers vested in the STA or Bekal Development Authority.
The indigenous fishing community of Kasaragod is the last remaining community along the Keralam coast with traditional fishing techniques. They abhor over fishing and adhere to sustainable harvesting practice. The community still practices the traditional ‘sea courts’ where the community heads assemble at the place of worship every day, hear and decide on issues within the community.
Despite all these the government of Keralam has already started acquiring land under dubious ‘public purpose’. Thirty-eight acres of land had already been acquired and the second phase of acquisition is on. The actual plan of tourism authorities is to buy land at the cheapest price and sell the same to private and multi-national hotel industry.
Local people, groups in Keralam and outside were under the belief that the government and tourism department would at least wait till the completion of the court proceedings. But this has proved wrong. Land acquisition and selling Bekal at international tourism fairs has already started without basic respect to the people and environment. At this juncture we feel that time has come for national and international intervention.
We appeal to peoples groups, intellectuals, environmental groups, traditional community groups to be part of the campaign against the undemocratic practice of the authorities and selling of this peaceful coastal villages and people.

Bekal Samrakshana Samiti, (Bekal Protection Committee) Bekal
EQUATIONS, Bangalore
Malabar Coastal Institute for Training and Research (MCITRA),
Kozhikode The Dialogue (for Social Research), Kozhikode