Coastal accumulation in Tamil Nadu

  • 25/11/2011

  • Economic and Political Weekly

Seven years after the 2004 tsunami, with the coastal communities in Tamil Nadu yet to reconcile with its after-effects, another disaster is gradually unfolding. A massive relief and rehabilitation campaign, largely driven by private aid with the state playing a mere regulatory role, has opened up the coast for investment, making it a most attractive zone for a new kind of disaster capitalism with ultra mega industrial projects of ports, thermal power plants and petrochemical industries. An investment-led growth regime is descending on the 1,076 kilometrelong coastline spread over 13 districts of the state