Sunlight reflected from the sea onto the thatched house of Joseph Lawrence, who sat on a plastic chair, overlooking the crystal-blue water. This might sound like a serene setting but the reality was anything but peaceful for Joseph as well as several others living in the coastal region of Valiathura, located in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.
On Wednesday, around nine houses on the coast, which were home to around 19 families, were destroyed by the rough seas, forcing 69 persons to be rehabilitated to relief camps.
Joseph Lawrence.
This is not the first time the families in the coastal region in the district have been losing their homes to rough seas. The people living here have been in a constant battle with the sea for several years now. As a result, many have been rendered homeless over the years because of coastal erosion and rough seas.
‘We've nothing to lose now’
“I had the biggest house here until last year,” 57-year-old Joseph tells TNM as he points to an area that is now just rocks and some shattered remains of his current house. Wednesday’s swells had taken a part of Joseph’s thatched house.
Joseph, who used to live along with his wife and her family, had lost their house after an episode of coastal erosion in June last year. They then built a thatched house right behind the area where their old house stood.
“We could neither afford to build another house like the one we had before nor afford to pay the rent for another house. I don’t work now because of an infection in my hand, neither does my wife. We also don’t have children to support us,” says Joseph.
Unlike others in the Valiathura coast, Joseph is not a fisherman. After spending a good amount of time in Dubai doing odd jobs, Joseph came back to his native in Valiathura following an infection in his right hand.
In June last year as well, several houses in the coastal region were destroyed in the rough seas, following which the Kerala Government relocated the people to relief camps in various government schools.
“I didn’t move to the relief camp as I will not be able to adjust there considering my health condition,” says Joseph.
“We have nothing to lose now,” he adds, with the look of helplessness evident on his face.
Meanwhile, 56-year-old Nelson is furious as he goes around picking up his belongings from his shattered house. All that is remaining of the house is a wall and a door.
“The media and the officials are now acting like this is the first time that such an incident is happening here,” says Nelson. He said that the sea has been “eating away the coast slowly every day”.
Nelson says that the families living here had warned the village officer and the tahsildar regarding the issue of coastal erosion but never bothered to take any action.
Wait for houses, seawall continues
Following the incident on Wednesday, the families who lost their homes have been rehabilitated to the relief camps set up at the Valiathura Boys’ Upper Primary School and Valiathura Government Upper Primary School.
However, TNM found out from the residents of Valiathura that some families had been living in these relief camps and temporary homes for many months now.
The Kerala Government in October last year, under their LIFE (Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment) mission, had handed over a newly-constructed apartment complex to 192 fishing families of Valiyathura, Cheriyathura, Valiyathope and Kochuthope - all coastal areas in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram. These houses were provided to the families who had lost their homes over the course of time due to coastal erosion and rough seas.
However, the residents of Valiathura allege that there are still many families who are yet to receive the houses promised by the government. Several residents staged a protest rally to the Public Office in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday demanding immediate construction of a seawall in their area.
'Urgent steps required': Officials
TNM spoke to VS Sivakumar, the MLA of the Thiruvananthapuram constituency, as he arrived in Valiathura to take stock of the situation. Sivakumar says that raging sea attacks is a common phenomenon that the people living in the coastal area of Valiyathura have had to face for many years now. “A seawall should immediately be constructed in this area,” he admits.
“It has been two years since the government announced that Rs 70 lakh will be spent for constructing a seawall here but no further action has been taken,” says Sivakumar. He also stated that the government must take precautionary measures at the earliest considering that the coast is now facing serious threat of being eroded by the sea again.
The state Revenue Minister, E Chandrasekharan visited the affected area on Thursday and told the media that all precautionary measures are being taken by the state to counter the rough waves.
IMD alert to fishermen
Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had also put out an alert on Thursday regarding the formation of a low pressure along the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal that could cause a depression. Following this alert, K Vasuki, the Thiruvananthapuram District Collector, had instructed the fishermen who had set sail from the Kerala coast to return at the earliest.
According to a statement by the Chief Minister’s office, the IMD has stated that the wind speed on Saturday, April 27, is estimated to be around 60 to 70 kilometers per hour and on Sunday, April 28, the speed of the wind is estimated to be around 80 to 90 kilometres per hour.