Kochi: With monsoon a couple of weeks away, the district is facing a threat of coastal erosion in the absence of seawall.
Though the state government has allocated funds to the tune of Rs 8 crore soon after the Ockhi disaster for seawall construction using geotubes made of synthetic fibre tubes filled with sand, the works stalled midway.
As per the agreement, the contractor had to finish works by November 2018. But the works were stopped citing unavailability of sand and other necessary equipment.
Residents of Chellanam took out a protest march to the district collectorate the other day seeking the authorities’ immediate intervention to complete seawall construction. Various organisations have been conducting protest
programmes for the last several months seeking its resumption.
“If the wall remains unfinished before the monsoon, several families will be affected as their houses will have severe damage in sea erosion,” said T.A. Dalfine, convener of Paschima Kochi Theera Samrakshana Samithi or West
Kochi Coastal Protection Forum.
Meanwhile, based on the district collector’s warning, the contractor resumed works of filling sand in geotubes on Friday. Sand from the sand bunds at Velankanni bazaar near Chellanam fishing harbour is being used to fill the
tubes.
However, the department of ports has submitted a complaint with the Kannamaly police that the contractor is taking sand from the fishing harbour without its permission.
