Maritime Board (Amendment) Bill passed in Assembly amid Opposition walkout

Opposing the Bill, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said it dealt a blow to the right to life and to livelihood of coastal people guaranteed by the Constitution

The Assembly on Wednesday passed the Keralam Maritime Board (Amendment) Bill, 2026, despite a walkout by the Opposition Left Democratic Front. The Bill, which provides for reconstitution of the board to establish a centralised decision-making mechanism and enhance operational efficiency, had been reported to a subject committee.

Opposing the Bill, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said it dealt a blow to the right to life and to livelihood of coastal people guaranteed by the Constitution. The provision to constitute a State Maritime Land Bank, comprising the land under the control of the State government, for development of township and other projects would lead to their eviction from land where they parked boats, dried nets, and repaired vessels. Harbours and landing centres would give way to commercial interests and deny traditional fishers the natural entry to the sea.

Charging ‘waterfront royalty’ for use of waterbodies where fishing was done was inhumane. Giving more powers to board officials in the name of inspections would pave the way for exploitation and a climate of fear in the coastal areas. Mr. Vijayan alleged that constructions along the coast and private tourism projects that went against coastal protection laws would destroy the marine ecosystem.

Moreover, the new authority would have no representatives of fishers, coastal people, their organisations, local bodies, or of Revenue or Fisheries Ministers and department Secretaries. The Bill would hand over the State’s coast to corporate mafia, Mr. Vijayan said, before walking out in protest.

Both the Revenue and Fisheries Secretaries would be part of the Board, Mr. Satheesan said in his reply, alleging that the LDF had staged a walkout over a Bill that it had not even perused. He also refuted the Opposition allegations that all land under the control of the State government would be transferred to the board. The Bill specified that the land within port limits would come under the land bank. The Opposition had not even proposed an amendment to this provision. Moreover, development would take place on land within port limits. How could this be interpreted as resulting in handover of land to corporate entities, he asked.

The biggest gain would be for harbour development and out-of-harbour development. Out-of-port development would generate employment opportunities and more investment in maritime industries, logistics, transshipment, supply chains and the like, he said. The board was a statutory body under the government, Mr. Satheesan pointed out. There was no truth to the allegations that fishers’ right to movement would be denied.

On the use of the term concessionaire in the Bill, he said all ports had concessionaire. At Vizhinjam, Adani group was the concessionaire. During the inauguration of the project, the then Ports Minister had termed the Adani group as the government’s partner, Mr. Satheesan alleged.

Presenting the Bill a few days ago, Mr. Satheesan had said the Bill would empower the Kerala Maritime Board in tune with the times as the existing legislation lacked the necessary legal provisions to enable the board to discharge various responsibilities entrusted to it.