To Mr. Jairam Ramesh Minister of Environment and Forests Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex New Delhi Sir, We the undersigned endorse and support the following petition by MASS. Sincerely, -Signed- To Mr. Jairam Ramesh Minister of Environment and Forests Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex New Delhi Sir, We, the fisherpeople of Mundra, a tehsil of the Kutch District of Gujarat, congratulate you on your entry into the Ministry of Environment and also appreciate greatly your positive response to NDTV's "Save the Beaches" campaign. One of the stories that were telecast as a part of this series was on the Mundra coast and the extensive destruction of mangroves of the Gulf of Kutch. You can watch the story on the http://www.ndtv.com/convergenc... The issue of Mangroves being destroyed, fishing communities' access to the sea being curtailed, creeks being blocked and marine ecosystem being under severe pressure in our region as a result of the Adani Group of companies' three SEZs has been brought to the Ministry of Environment and Forests on a regular basis through petitions and memoranda by us and other environmental action groups but there has been no action or response. Instead the MoEF has continued to give clearances to the various activities/ projects for the port based SEZ and thermal power plants. The lives and livelihoods of our people, more than 1000 fishing families along the Mundra coast stand threatened due to unregulated expansion and concretization along the coast. The violations of environmental norms and callous attitude of the Gujarat government and Forest Department towards us has brought us in a state of despair. We the Wagher community, the pagadiya (on foot) fishermen and women, who live off the gifts of the sea will soon be on the verge of extinction if our coast is not saved and our customary rights not protected. We urge you to look into the matter at the earliest and take the following steps. * Complete moratorium on further expansion of port, SEZ and industrial activity on the Mundra coast * An independent Scientific Assessment of the impacts of the Mundra Port and SEZ on the marine ecosystem and dependent livelihoods * Immediate protection towards the rights of the Fishing Communities to the sea and intertidal zone * Thorough assessment of the compliance by MPSEZ and punitive action for non-compliance Sincerely Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti(MASS), Kutch

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