With the onset of the months of June-August, villagers of Kannirajpuram near Kadaladi fear the high tides which cause severe soil erosion.
The Kannirajpuram village houses over 300 families whose livelihood depend on fishing. They together own about 80 fibre boats and 20 country boats. The fishermen suffer huge losses from time to time due to high tides and soil erosion.
High tides and rough seas have been reported in the district for the past couple of days. While speaking to TNIE, a local fisherman, Perinbam said, “The high tides have made the soil prone to erosion in the shore areas across the district. Last year, the walls of a local cemetery were hit by the strong waves, but the waves have breached the compound walls this year. We fear damage to the cemetery as it has been a part of the locality for decades. Despite taking preventive measures such as building concrete slopes and stone structures, the waves are causing severe soil erosion in recent times. The sea has become rougher over the years, and we fear venturing into the sea, which is affecting our livelihood. Some portions of the rubble mound seawall (RMS wall) also eroded away due to the increasingly strong waves.”
Locals allege that their demand for water break structures to prevent issues caused by high tides remain unaddressed.
District Collector B Vishnu Chandran said, “Inspections were done to assess the situation and about `20 crore has been allocated to take up permanent preventive measures. Temporary measures to protect the cemetery are also in the books.”
District forest official S Hemalatha stated that under the bio-shield scheme, the department will consider planting palms and other coastal trees and plants along the shores, which could act as wave breakers and prevent soil erosion in the area.