violent demonstrations against a billionaire's Kerala project at Adani Port

Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, controlled by Gautam Adani, is developing the port.

The $900 million (£744 million) project, according to protesters—mostly local fishermen—is causing coastal erosion and undermining their way of life.

The business has refuted the accusations.

The protests have been ongoing for more than 100 days, but up until this point they had been mostly nonviolent. Many of the protesters claim that coastal erosion has damaged their homes, forcing them to live in makeshift shelters.

The company claimed that sea erosion is a result of climate change and that the project complies with environmental laws.

The Kerala High Court had ruled last week that the demonstrators had to abide by its earlier directive to permit "unhindered ingress and egress" to the project site. 

However, protesters prevented corporate cars from approaching the building site over the weekend, which led to some of them being arrested by police.

Hundreds of protestors assaulted the neighbourhood police station on Sunday night, sparking fights with officers.

A senior state police official told reporters that "a mob gathered outside the police station in the evening and demanded the release of a few suspects who were arrested in another case," adding that they had stationed some 900 police officers nearby.

In addition, a few demonstrators suffered injuries, and some police cars suffered damage. Police have filed charges against almost 3,000 people in relation to the violence. 

Eugene H. Pereira, a vicar general and one of the protest's organisers, claimed that the protestors "were ready to leave the area without creating any trouble" but that the police provoked them.

"The violence is the fault of the state government. They were preparing the area in order to evict the demonstrators forcibly "He claimed.

Despite the government agreeing to comply with their demands, a state minister refuted this and said the demonstrators were still holding up the project.

"They want to completely scrap the port project, which is already far along in the development process. But they won't gain anything from it, "To the BBC, he spoke. 

The Adani Group moved the state's high court following the violence, and on Monday, the court ordered the administration to submit a report.

Under the condition of anonymity, an Adani executive told the BBC that the firm had already experienced losses from the blockade, which has been in place for more than 104 days, totaling over 800 million rupees ($9.8 million; £8.1 million).

The agreement to construct the port at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, was signed in 2015 by Adani Ports, the largest port operator in India.

The Vizhinjam port is anticipated to satisfy all of the company's transhipment needs once it is operational. The company operates nine feeder ports throughout India. 

Due to its proximity to international shipping lanes, it has been stated that the port will be "India's gateway to international transhipment" once it is finished.

The port was supposed to open in 2019, however due to a fatal hurricane that struck the state in 2017, as well as a lack of building supplies, work was put off. The new opening date is September 2023.

A rehabilitation plan for displaced people that was originally included in the agreement, according to the opposition Congress party, which was in power when the deal was signed, was allegedly "ignored" by the current administration.

Party leader VD Satheesan said, "I visited these shelters and they are living in the most pitiful situation I have ever seen in my life.