MUNDROTHURUTHU: Rajan moved to Mundrothuruthu (Munroe Island) in 1957 searching for fertile land and a change in fortunes. The subsequent years saw Rajan and the rest of the islanders grow prosperous through high-yielding paddy farming, coconut lagoons, aquaculture farms, coir retting and weaving.
But that’s an old hunter’s tale now. Now in his seventies, Rajan he and his wife want to leave the island.
“The island is dying and our house is getting submerged gradually,” he says. You see his point everywhere in his neighbourhood. I saw one of his neighbours bailing out water from her living room. “Water entered the house during the high tide. Our life is in ruins,” she says.
About 10,000 people live on Munroe Island. They are called the Jalamkondu Murivettavar. It means “those who were bruised by water”. Indeed, the once-pristine island is sinking due to the rising sea level and soil erosion. Initially, it was blamed on the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean. But it’s really global warming the villain.
Named after Col. John Munroe, a popular administrator of the erstwhile Travancore state, this cluster of eight islands at the confluence of the Ashtamudi lake and the Kallada (area: 13.2 sq km) has witnessed many reforms. As the East India Company’s resident to the Travancore state, Munroe oversaw land reclamation in the delta which brought in an influx of people into farming activities. The island also became a popular tourist destination.
But over the past 12 years, houses on the island have sunk 2-4 feet. The rising sea has affected paddy cultivation, aquaculture farming and coconut groves. Ironically, potable water is scarce. Mundrothuruthu and its inhabitants face an uncertain future. More than 200 families have left the island in recent years, abandoning homes and farmlands.