What was the finding of the BNP Paribas environment screening?
It supports the port project, but we can't share it without their consent.
Why did the bank decline the loan?
When money got weaker, RBI gave out restrictions against taking more than $20 million from outside. So they kept it on hold. Now that RBI has increased the limit to $100 million the bank is willing to reopen it.
Is it true that it will cost you Rs 400 crore, were you to shift the port site 30 km from the nesting site of turtles?
We are spending Rs 700 crore on rail connectivity now. We could have spent that much on break water at a different site.
Why are you insisting on the site despite the perceived harm to turtles?
This is not the only case of ports co-existing with turtles. In the coastline, turtles come from the south while we are the northern-most. Paradip port is also there.
What about the lights?
If you keep glaring lights on and if you dredge you will kill them. I was chairman Paradip port for five years. Turtles increased and decreased without being affected.
We have to face the truth and ask if development and conservation cannot go together. Turtles come in hundreds and thousands and are transcontinental while ships also keep moving from Tuticorin to Haldia.
What's the answer?
If you create glow, hatcheries will be disoriented. But the nesting is only for 15 days. People have found solutions. Florida, for instance, has a manual for turtle friendly lighting. IUCN, a scientists body which first vets the list of any endangered animals, has been working on designing lighting for our port.
Paradip is the most brightly lit port and hasn't affected turtles yet. Next to Gahirmata, the nesting site, is the DRDO facility which is well-lit. But they switch off lights during the nesting.
What about the lights during mating season?
We are targeting the Greenfield sites identified in Orissa, Jharkhand and Bengal. We expect cargo purely from steel plants and mines which will be exporting steel and importing coking coal.
Why do you rule out other industries?
We got clearance under coastal regulation zone 1 which doesn't allow any activity but the port.
