The Chellanam Kochi Janakiya Vedhi, an organisation demanding coastal protection, has said that it will organise a protest on Monday before the office of the Fisheries Deputy Director in Ernakulam to protest against what the organisation alleged was the authorities’ failure to carry out coastal protection measures in a time-bound manner.
The authorities were pretending to be “asleep to the appeal for help from Chellanam residents”, said a notice issued by the Janakiya Vedhi announcing the protest action. It said the members of the group would sleep in front of the fisheries office to symbolise the lack of action on the part of the authorities.
The Janakiya Vedhi has also opposed a move by the State government to rehabilitate and relocate people living within 50 metres of the high tide line by setting up a housing complex. The organisation said people were looking towards the government introducing coastal protection measures and not relocation measures.
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Fisheries Department sources had said last week that more than a hundred families in Chellanam had expressed interest in being relocated in the wake of severe sea erosion and flooding of homes. The problems had been accentuated after Cyclone Ockhi hit the Chellanam shores at the end of December 2017. Periodic rough sea conditions and high waves have been the cause of frequent flooding of homes.
The programme to relocate families facing severe sea erosion under the ‘Punargeham’ programme was announced two years ago and the Fisheries Department is looking for a suitable piece of land to build a housing complex for those willing to be relocated.