A sense of helplessness and intense anger overflows in the fishermen colony at Kovalam near here as the tiny village with 60 families still remains cut-off from other parts of the district due to stagnation of floodwater for the past 44 days.
It was life as usual in the colony at Kovalam, which falls under Mullakkaadu village panchayat on the outskirts of Thoothukudi, until the torrential rain on December 17 and 18 battered the southern districts, particularly Thoothukudi. With the floodwater gushing towards the colony from nearby breached irrigation tanks, the road connecting the colony with nearby areas was washed away along with electric poles and pipelines carrying drinking water to the 300-odd fishermen in the colony.
“While drinking water and power supply were cut-off simultaneously, the floodwaters even washed away our fishnets and damaged our boats with which we feed our families. And there was no power to the colony after the floodwater surrounded our houses. The situation was frightening as the colony is close to the sea,” recalls Muniyasamy, a resident. The stagnant floodwater around the village forces the residents to use small boats to come out of their hamlet to buy groceries or go to the hospital. They have dug mud wells in the seashore to meet their drinking water needs. The boats come in handy to carry the drinking water pots.
“Though the water we take from the mud wells is a bit salty, we have to use it for drinking and domestic purposes including cooking,” says Mr. Muniyasamy. While the stagnant floodwater around the houses has paralysed the residents of the fishermen colony, what agonises them the most is the sense of helplessness and negligence by the official machinery. Even though the affected fishermen have received flood relief of ₹6,000 after coming out in their boats, no official has met them after nature’s fury battered the hamlet.
“Even after 44 days, no government official has visited our place after the flooding… The power supply was restored to our village only last week. But neither a government official nor an elected representative visited us. Hence the damaged drinking water pipes are yet to be re-laid. The road remains cut-off and the 30-odd children in our hamlet have not gone to school for the past 44 days. We’ have lost almost everything and we don’t know anything other than fishing. Tonnes of relief materials were sent to coastal hamlets like Amali Nagar, Manappad, Periyathaazhai etc. But still we are abandoned even though we live very close to Thoothukudi, the district headquarters” said Umayaraj, another fisherman. When Empower, a Thoothukudi-based non-governmental organisation, came to know of the pathetic situation of the fishermen, its secretary A. Shankar sent 4,000 litres of purified drinking water in a tanker to the village and the fishermen brought pots in their boats to take the drinking water.
“The damaged road should be re-laid to ensure proper connectivity. The villagers are badly in need of fishnets and repairing of the damaged boats. The children should be given their textbooks and all educational aids. Above all, some government official should visit the hamlet to understand their genuine agony and alleviate their sufferings accordingly,” said Mr. Shankar.