KOCHI: Chellanam residents have intensified their demand for reconstruction of the damaged seawall.
They staged a sit-in protest and prepared rice gruel, in front of the Collectorate in Kakkanad on Wednesday. Social worker C R Neelakandan inaugurated the protest by lighting up a stove at the Collectorate doorstep.
When issues after the Cyclone Ockhi tragedy were being resolved, the government had sanctioned Rs 8 crore for installing sand-filled geotubes instead of traditional sandbags to repair damaged sectors of the seawall.
The contractor employed for the work was ill-equipped and resorted to sub-contracting various jobs. The work however, is nowhere near completion. The contract expired in November last year. A number of organisations have raised the issue of residents’ safety in the likely case of rough seas during monsoons.
The demonstration, which began from Kakkanad Community Centre, was inaugurated by PRO, Kochi Diocese, Rev Johny Xavier Puthukad. West Kochi Coast Protection Committee Convenor T S Dalfin made the protest declaration in the meeting chaired by Fr Francis Pooppaadi.