A 65-year-old fisherman Keshava Shriyan and his neighbour and a bank employee Tejpal H. have finished a round of clearing plastic and other waste fallen on a portion of the Hosabettu beach, which many children in the area used as their playground.
“We could just clear a bit. We can only do a thorough cleaning of the area a few days later when the intensity of the sea waves comes down,” said Mr. Shriyan, who is among the residents involved in keeping the beach clean. “Cleaning the muck this time will take more time than usual,” said Mr. Shriyan, sitting on the lone bench on the beach that has remained intact, as the other benches, swings and a slide on the beach suffered damage in strong waves after the cyclone passed by on Saturday.
It was at around 10 a.m. on Saturday that the sea waves started to gain intensity. Fishermen said that the intensity started to come down at around 2 p.m. “What you see today is just one-fourth of the intensity seen yesterday,” said another fishermen Madhu Kunder, who lives off the NIT-K beach road connecting Light House and NIT-K beach where several road stretches have suffered damage.
“As the cyclone passed by during the daytime, we could save our boats and move them to safety,” Mr. Kunder said and added that this was the first time that he had seen such intense waves. “During the monsoon, the sea is rough but it is not as intense as it was this time,” he said, while showing a nearly 800 metre of eroded beach in front of his house.
Among the many affected by the cyclone include Manoj, owner of a newly opened beachside ice cream parlour on NIT-K beach road. His refrigerator and other items were damaged after sea water entered his parlour on Saturday. “The lockdown hit me hard. This is the second blow,” Mr. Manoj said.
The 12-km-long fisheries road from Kulai to Sasihitlu has also been affected. Several houses adjoining the fisheries road have been damaged. The district administration has taken steps to move families living along the fisheries road in Sasihitlu, Hosabettu, Meenakaliya, Panambur, Ullal and Ullal Someshwar to relief centres.
