Chellanam tetrapod: protest panel urges government to revisit piecemeal implementation of seawall construction-OxBig News Network

The Chellanam-Kochi Janakeeya Vedhi has welcomed the State government’s decision to erect tetrapod seawall on the Puthonthode-Cheriyakkadavu stretch in the sea incursion-hit Chellanam panchayat at ₹306 crore, but dubbed the decision taken at the high level meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram as at best a ‘temporary relief.’

The government should revisit the implementation of partial solution and resolve the issue in one go by extending the tetrapod seawall beyond Cheriyakkadavu up to the Beach Road, covering the entire affected areas in the Chellanam panchayat, said V.T. Sebastian, general convener, and Thushar Nirmal, working chairperson of the Vedhi, in a statement issued here. They protested against the government decision to ignore the affected people’s demand to construct tetrapod seawall on the entire stretch from Puthenthode to Beach Road in a single phase.

The organisation said that the piecemeal implementation of shore conservation project in Chellanam is unscientific and inadequate to address the worsening sea erosion. The partial conservation of the shore does not actually address the problem, but merely diverts the invading waves to the north of the completed seawall. This is manifested in the way how sea incursion turned far worse in the areas north of Puthenthode up to where tetrapod seawall was deployed in the first phase in 2023.

Far worse

If the tetrapod wall is limited up to Cheriyakkadavu as the government has decided now, it will lead to far worse sea incursion in areas north of Cheriyakkadavu. Already, the existing conventional seawall in many stretches in these areas are either completely destroyed or weakened.

Many families are residing in houses just next to the seawall, making them highly vulnerable in the event of sea incursion. Unfortunately, the government decision has pushed people in the panchayat to face such a threat, said the statement.