Even after multiple protest against the stalled seawall construction, the people of village of Chellanam in Kerala are yet to receive a plausible solution from authorities to combat the severe sea erosion they face during monsoons. Residents of the coastal village in Ernakulam have now planned to intensify protests, and will start an indefinite strike in front of Ernakulam District Collectorate from May 6.
Under the banner of West Kochi Coastal Protection Forum, the residents submitted a letter to Ernakulam District Collector Muhammed Y Safirulla on the matter on Monday. The West Kochi Coastal Protection Forum has also demanded that the responsibility of the seawall construction be transferred to the District Disaster Management Authority, headed by Safirulla. Presently, the Irrigation Department is responsible for the construction.
“Whenever we conduct protest, the Irrigation Department officials give some excuse and promise that the construction will be restarted within two days. But this promise has not been kept,” said TA Dalfine, convener of West Kochi Coastal Protection Forum.
The demand for a seawall was raised after Chellanam saw immense damage from Cyclone Ockhi in 2017. As there was no proper seawall in many stretches of the village, the district administration agreed to construct geotube seawall to prevent sea erosion. Geotubes are natural or synthetic polymer structures which will be filled with sand and stacked to form wall against sea erosion.
But over a year since Ockhi that damaged about 400 houses and killed two of the village’s fishermen, the villagers continue to live in fear. With the monsoon approaching, they are worried about the intensified sea erosion that the rains bring. Sea erosion is the process of loss or displacement of coastal land due to waves and tides.
As per the initial assurance, the seawall should have been completed by April 2018. However, the construction was delayed by a year and only began in January 2019. It has now been halted for more than two months because of the unavailability of sand to fill the geotubes.
The most recent protest over the issue was held on Sunday where hundreds of people from the village lay down on the incomplete geotube seawall.
“We have no other option other than to intensify our protests because authorities have turned a blind eye towards the issue that affect the lives of hundreds in Chellanam. Earlier this month we had conducted a dharna at the office of Superintending Engineer of Irrigation Central Circle in Thrissur. The officials of Irrigation Department then told us that contractor will bring dredger to take sand from sea within two days. But even after two weeks, no work has happened here,” said Dalfine.
“Monsoon will likely start by May end, so, we have barely a month to do something. Protest in front of the district collectorate is our last hope to open the eyes of the authorities,” he added.
Meanwhile officials in Irrigation Department told TNM that the geotube seawall construction will be restarted within two days. It should be noted that the construction hasn’t resumed though the officials had said it would by earlier this month. “We have asked the contractor to bring the dredging machine to collect sand. If he does not do that in two days, we will take strict action against him,” reiterated an Irrigation Department official in Ernakulam.
The project, which costs Rs 8 crore, aims to lay geotube seawalls along the stretches of Velankanni Bazaar (300 metres from the sea), Vachakkal (100 metres from the sea), Companypady (300 metres from the sea) and Puthenthode Fishing Gap (110 metres), in Chellanam panchayat. But at present, work has only begun at the Velankanni Bazaar stretch of the panchayat.