Fishermen associations and environmentalists have been continuously voicing their opposition to IREL (India), formerly Indian Rare Earth Minerals Limited, project at Manavalakurichi in Kanniyakumari district.

The primary concerns are focused on the project’s long-term environmental and health impacts, along with its threat to the livelihood of coastal communities.

IREL has been operational in the region from the 1960s, excavating minerals such as monazite, zircon, Ilmenite, sillimanite, rutile, leucoxene and garnet. It is the only central public sector enterprise in the country authorised to mine and handle prescribed substances such as monazite under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and its value-added products.

The project, which covers Chinnavilai and Periyavilai near Manavalakurichi, proposed for its expansion in 2021 several regions in the district, including Midalam, Keexhmidalam, Enayamputhenthirai, Ezhudesam, Kollencode, Vallavilai, Thoothoor and Neerodi, areas largely connected by AVM canal.

The proposed expansion has triggered strong resistance from the local fishing communities and environmentalists due to potential health and environmental degradation.

The mineral particles, which flow from the river into the sea, get deposited along the shoreline. IREL’s mining process involves extraction and separation of the minerals from sand, a process believed to release harmful radiation. Residents link the high number of cancer cases in the district to radiation caused by these operations.

C. Berlin of Neithal Makkal Iyakkam said: “Over time, the number of people, especially in the coastal region, affected by cancer has increased, attributing its cause to IREL’s mining.”

He recalled that in 2010, during the tenure of then Collector Rajendra Ratnoo, a field study was conducted to examine the cancer cases in the region. The study was done in three phases in areas closest to IREL site such as Kadiyapattibam, Kottilpadu, Chinnavilai, Periyavilai, coastal areas a little far away from the site such as Manakudy, Pallam and Annai Nagar, and in areas distant from the site such as Aralvaimozhi, MGR Nagar and Indira Nagar. However the study findings have not been released yet.

Mr. Berlin further said, “We have raised this issue at every fishermen grievance redressal meeting and demanded the report, but no action has been taken.”

Meanwhile, an Environmental Impact Assessment Summary (EIA) on IREL’s Manavalaurichi released in 2024, said the mining lease area in Kanniyakumari district have high background natural radiation in the range of 1 to 4 microsieverts per hour due to the presence of monazite in the BSM ore, where monazite contains radioactive active minerals such as uranium and thorium.

It further claims that after the removal of BSM ore and backfilling the areas with tailings (residual sand), the background radiation in the mined out area was brought down to 0.2 to 0.4 microsieverts per hour. It also says that 8 to 10 fold reduction in the radiation level in the areas where mining and backfilling was carried out by IREL.

But fishermen refute this claim, “If the mining reduces the radiation, the number of cancer patients should be decreasing and not increasing.”

Another major concern raised is disruption to sand dunes and the biodiversity of the region. Sand dunes are part of the coastal ecosystem which protects the beaches from erosion, tropical hurricanes and flooding.

An environmentalist from the region says the shoreline of Kanniyakumari district has been destroyed due to erosion and one of the primary reasons behind that is also atomic mining other than natural factors. The continued erosion could lead to salt water intrusion into the groundwater table, harming agriculture and affecting freshwater availability. Species dependent on the unique minerals in the sand also have been severely affected.

Given these pressing concerns, the fishermen associations have submitted a petition to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, demanding that the existing IREL operation be shut down and permission for the expansion project be denied.