LONDON: The Enayam port project in Kanyakumari district planned at a cost of Rs. 27,500 crore will be implemented by using 1,000 acres of land to be reclaimed, Union Minister of State for Shipping and Highways Pon. Radhakrishnan said here on Sunday. “The project will be executed without dislocating the local fishermen. A survey is already on,” he said at a function here on Sunday. “The preliminary inspection is over. Some people have been misleading the fishermen and inducing fear in them for political benefit. I can assure that fishermen’s lives will not be affected in this process,” he said, adding that the detailed project report had been submitted to the State government.
He said during the work for laying four-lane highway between Kanyakumari to Thiruvananthapuram, a wall of historic significance has been found in Aralvaimozhi village in Kanyakumari district. “The wall, in a dilapidated condition now, is said to have been the border between Pandya and Chera kingdoms. Archaeologists are looking at it now and we plan to build a memorial to preserve it as a historic site that celebrates Tamil culture,” he said.
Initially, the plan was to demolish the wall, but now a flyover would be built to preserve the wall, he added. After inaugurating the ‘Colours of Independence’, an event to promote the use of khadi and handloom organised by the Ministry of Textiles in 70 locations at Abirami Mega Mall in the city, he said, people should encourage weavers by using more handloom products.