Residents of Chellanam panchayat have been having it tough since the onset of the monsoon this year. As many as nine houses were fully damaged and hundreds were partially damaged or submerged.
| Photo Credit: H. VIBHU
A day before a high-level meeting in Thiruvananthapuram is set to deliberate over the second phase construction of the tetrapod-based seawall in the sea incursion-hit Chellanam panchayat in Ernakulam district of Kerala, the Chellanam-Kochi Janakeeya Vedhi has launched a fresh protest demanding that the second phase cover the remaining affected coastal stretch in the panchayat in one go and not in a piecemeal manner.
The organisation launched a day-long hunger strike at its permanent protest pandal at Kattipparambu raising this demand on Tuesday (July 1, 2025). It suspects that due to the government’s financial crunch, the second phase is only likely to cover the nearly 5-km stretch from Puthenthode to Cheriyakkadavu under the ₹304 crore Asian Development Bank (ADB) project, while they demand that it be extended by another couple of kilometres up to the Beach Road. ADB authorities had visited Chellanam in March.
“Wrapping up the second phase at Cheriyakkadavu will only further worsen the impact of sea incursion in the rest of coastal stretch such as Kattipparambu, Kaithaveli, Manasserry, Saudi, and Beach Road in the panchayat. This is exactly what has been happening in the stretch from Puthenthode to Cheriyakkadavu in the years since the completion of the first phase from the Chellanam fishing harbour to Puthenthode in 2023. The situation in the stretch beyond Cheriyakkadavu will only be far worse considering that there are houses right by the seawall in many places there,” said V.T. Sebastian, general convenor of the Vedhi.
He reminded that initially, the first phase was to cover the entire 12-km stretch from the Chellanam fishing harbour to Cheriyakkadavu for ₹344 crore. However, the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd could only cover up to Puthenthode as per the revised estimate and erected only 6 instead of the nine groynes.
“Partial deployment of tetrapod-based seawall from the southern side will leave areas north of the completed point far more vulnerable to invading waves. What happened in areas such as Cheriyakkadavu and Kannamaly during this monsoon only reaffirmed it,” said Mr. Sebastian.
The decision to implement a project for finding a permanent solution to sea erosion in Chellanam was taken shortly after the inauguration of the second LDF government. Chellanam is the worst affected among the 10 hotspots facing sea erosion in Kerala identified by the Irrigation department.
Residents of the panchayat have been having it tough since the onset of the monsoon this year. As many as nine houses were fully damaged and hundreds were partially damaged or submerged.
Published – July 01, 2025 11:04 am IST
