Residents in the coastal village of Chellanam have expressed concern at the possibility of them going through yet another rough patch with the rainy season at hand. Chellanam-Fort Kochi Janakiya Vedhi, which has been vociferously demanding completion of the tetrapod wall to protect the entire segment of the coast between Chellanam and Fort Kochi, organised a public meeting on Saturday to explain the current situation to the public.
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Speaking for the Janakiya Vedhi, V.T. Sebastian, general convener, said that though two senior Ministers in the State Cabinet promised to restart work on the tetrapod walls towards the end of last year, works were yet to take off.
Tetrapod wall has been erected on a segment of 7.36 km, though the first phase should have covered a total of 10 km. However, the government had then promised to complete the work at the earliest with Chellanam being given priority as fund was available for the work. People have pinned their hopes on the promise that work would restart soon.
Though several segments in the State witnessed the recent phenomenon of high waves hitting the shores, Chellanam has been spared. Mr. Sebatian claimed that since waters close to the Chellanam shores were deep, waves have not severely affected the area. But the coming rainy season might be a difficult one as the granite boulder walls along the northern stretches of the panchayat were in a dilapidated condition or have totally been brought down by high waves over the years, he said.
Earlier, the Janakiya Vedhi had raised the demand that road that was built to move equipment and materials for building the tetrapod walls should be maintained with the cooperation of private owners, who owned the land on which the road was built. The road, if maintained through public intervention, would help future development, including in areas of tourism development, the Vedhi spokesman added.