THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “We will never leave our home,” says Sesu Mary, sounding resolute and restless at the same time.
Sesu has been spending sleepless nights for the past two years, ever since “some officials” entered her house at Vizhinjam and marked her land for the proposed underground rail corridor that would connect the seaport to the rail network in Balaramapuram.
“We built the house with a Rs 32 lakh loan. My husband died of kidney failure after undergoing dialysis for six years. We are struggling to survive,” says Sesu, adding that both her sons are fishermen and the coast is their only livelihood.
“They can take this land only after taking our lives. We will never leave our home,” she reiterates. Sesu is among the 21 families facing immediate eviction as per the approved alignment for the 9.43-km-long rail corridor.
Years after surrendering vast stretches of land and coastline for the transshipment port, fishing families in Vizhinjam are facing a second wave of displacement as the proposed underground freight rail tunnel threatens to cut through a densely populated coastal village, passing beneath residential neighbourhoods, commercial establishments, churches and educational institutions.
Both Vizhinjam residents and priests from the Our Lady of Good Voyage Church in the locality are up in arms against the current alignment. They allege that several welfare and rehabilitation promises made to the community during the seaport project remain unfulfilled, even as another major infrastructure project threatens their homes and livelihoods.
They also allege that no meaningful public consultation or comprehensive socio-economic impact assessment was conducted for the Rs 1,482-crore project, which has been tendered by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. The Centre has approved the DPR. The church alleges that the alignment threatens homes, schools, churches, livelihoods and drinking water sources in one of the state’s most densely populated coastal settlements.
“We are not against development. In fact, we fought for the harbour. But after sacrificing everything for it, we cannot accept attempts to displace us again. We will oppose every move to displace our people until our last breath,” says Msgr Nicholas T, the church priest. He says the alignment would affect two churches, two roadside shrines, three schools, over 1,000 houses and around 4,000 residents directly and thousands more indirectly.
Residents say the railway tunnel was originally proposed near the port entrance but was later revised without proper discussions. Ruing that the new alignment will mark the end of traditional fishing operations at the beach where nearly 2400 fishing vessels are berthed, fisherfolks have urged the government to realign the proposed railway tunnel through Mulloor-Vayalunkara stretch.
“The seaport acquired over 1.2 km of the 1.5-km-long Valiyakadappuram beach; the tunnel will swallow more of the 300m of beach left for the fishermen. Losing this stretch would make fishing unviable,” says John Isaac, secretary of the parish council.
He also said that nearly 200 government-built houses in the area stand on weak clay foundations and may not withstand the vibrations generated during tunnelling. “During piling works undertaken for the Vizhinjam port, around 243 houses suffered extensive damage. We are not satisfied with the public hearing held for the project in September 2024. Our concerns are not mentioned in the report. The district collector had promised to hold one more public hearing but nothing has happened,” John alleged.
Slight modification can work wonders, says MLA
A slight modification in the proposed alignment of the tunnel can protect families facing displacement without affecting the project’s viability, said Kovalam MLA M Vincent.
“The project can significantly impact property owners over a stretch of several kilometres. It is proposed to declare the land on either side of the tunnel as no-development zone. Even if people own property, they will not be able to use it the way they wish; it will lose value. A solution has to be found,” he said.
He said that Chief Minister V D Satheesan will soon convene a meeting to find a solution. “The project is yet to kick off. We will try to make amendments and revisions to exclude the affected population. We want the tunnel to be completed as quickly as possible. Nearly 10 years have been wasted – the tunnel was supposed to have been completed by 2021, but even in 2026 work has not begun,” Vincent said.
Unfulfilled promises
Residents allege many welfare and rehabilitation promises made during port project remain unfulfilled
They also allege that no meaningful public consultation or socio-economic impact assessment was conducted for D1,482-crore project