Residents of Thanthonnithuruthu formed a ‘human bund’ along the Vembanad lake on Thursday protesting against the inordinate delay in the construction of an outer bund to protect them from floodwaters during high tide.
Senior citizens, women, and children were part of the symbolic human bund protest that stretched from the tiny island to Queen’s Walkway. The unique protest was held after floodwaters entered their homes during the normal high tide in the last few days.
Members of 62 families in the tiny island had marched to the office of the Goshree Island Development Authority (GIDA) in November last year after they faced a similar situation.
“Despite repeated pleas, the authorities have not yet realised our long-standing demand for construction of an outer bund to protect us from flooding during high tide. Around ₹6 crore was sanctioned in 2014 to set up the outer bund,” said Reji, a resident.
The protesting islanders said the protest in front of the GIDA office in 2020 was called off after the District Collector and elected representatives gave them an assurance that the outer bund would be constructed without any delay. No concrete steps have been taken to make it a reality, they alleged. Thanthonnithuruthu is part of Division 74 of the Kochi Corporation.
