Six houses damaged by sea erosion at Valiyathura

Houses damaged by sea erosion at Valiyathura in the city on Tuesday morning.

Residents of the city’s coast had their life thrown into uncertainty yet again with powerful waves starting to lash these areas from Tuesday morning. Six houses were damaged in the onslaught, with several others under the threat of the waves crashing in any time. The residents of the damaged houses have shifted to the houses of their relatives.

The affected areas include Cheriyathura, Valiyathura, Velankanni Matha Road, Fathima Matha Road, Kuzhivilakam and St.Mary’s Lane. Part of the football ground in Valiyathura junction was also eaten away by the waves. Hundreds of houses along the coast are under the threat of the waves.

“The first row of houses along the coast were destroyed in sea erosion some years back. Right now, even the houses in the third row are facing the threat of the waves. Some of us have been filling sacks with sand, to be used as a barrier against the waves. But it does not work when the waves are very strong. The boats have been anchored close to the road,” says Jeremy Jerald, a resident here.

The area is also facing a shortage of relief camps. The Government Fisheries Technical Higher Secondary School in Valiyathura has become a sort of permanent rehabilitation camp for several families, who have refused to go back to their houses. A few months back, some families from the coast were shifted to the mother and child welfare centre in Valiyathura.

Early in January, the Chief Minister had inaugurated the construction of flats to rehabilitate fishing families living along the coastline. As part of the project, a total of 160 houses across eight blocks is to be built at the Government’s land in Muttathara. But construction is yet to begin.

“Since the land is located in a swampy area where the water from the Muttathara Sewage treatment plant used to drain, it has to be filled before construction could begin. The filling work is currently going on. Further delays will only make life difficult for the people living in these regions,” says Tony Oliver, president of the Trivandrum Kambavala Matsyathozhilali Federation.