Jeremy’s family of three has not had much sleep in the past month, ever since the sea turned violent during the summer rain. On Saturday, the waves washed away a part of their house located near Valiyathura.
“On most days, we get up in the middle of the night as the waves crash inside the house. During the last monsoon, the front portion of our house was destroyed. We lived in the rehabilitation centre at the fisheries school for some days and then came back here as there was not even proper facilities to cook there,” says Jeremy.
Several families along this coast have a similar story to tell, even as buildings which could become rehabilitation centres rot away, a few metres away from their homes. One of these is the quarters building of the Customs and Excise Department situated near the Valiyathura pier.
This vast compound, now overgrown with bushes, has four buildings, constructed way back in the 1980s.
Out of the four, employees of the Customs Department use only one, while the rest have been unoccupied for years and have fallen into disuse. Residents here point at these buildings as one of the possible rehabilitation centres.
“We are forced to stay in schools every year and because we are staying there, it is affecting the education of our own children. If we could use buildings like this or build a permanent shelter home elsewhere, the schools would not be affected,” says Jaisy, a resident here.
The residents say these buildings were occupied in the initial days, but due to lack of maintenance, many preferred to rent houses outside.
A customs official told The Hindu that there was a proposal to set up a maritime academy in the compound. “A few months ago, a proposal was sent to the Union government regarding the setting up of a maritime school of the National Academy of Customs, Excise, and Narcotics. But, this has not materialised yet. No one has yet approached the department asking for this to be converted to a rehabilitation centre,” says the official.
