Kerala: Sea incursion in Chellanam damages houses
Jul 19, 2020
Chellanam (Kerala) [India], July 19 : Chellanam, the coastal village in Kerala's Kochi faced severe inundation on Sunday.
Visuals from the site showed huge waves entering the residential areas of the village flooding homes and carrying away with it smaller trees and objects.
The Chellanam village is prone to flood-related devastation owing to its proximity to the sea.
Till this incident, residents of the village had completed the 232nd day of their indefinite strike in Kochi against the incompletion of seawall during the monsoon season in the sea erosion-prone area.
"According to the Disaster Management Act, 2015, Chellanam was declared as the highest sea erosion-causing Panchayat. One of the plans announced in 2017 was the construction of seawall here but it has not been completed yet," informed Advocate Thushar Nirmal Sarathi, part of Chellanam Janakeeya Vedi to ANI
"The government has not even done a study on the subject," added the advocate.
There is a sense of impatience among coastal residents as their demand or shore protection walls date back to 2017 December when Cyclone Okhi hit the coast, flooding homes, and damaging property. Authorities have so far set up sand walls as a temporary solution.
