CHENNAI: Jayalakshmi, 47, with a grief-stricken face, sits haplessly along with her family on the cracked edge of her crumbling house by the sea at Foreshore Estate. Around 5.30 am on Tuesday, when her family, including four grandchildren were sleeping in the one-room tenement, a swell wave inundated the house. Luckily, no one was hurt, but a sidewall of the house was washed away.
This is not the first time the incident occurred. For the third consecutive years in a row, swell waves during southwest monsoon have wreaked havoc at Foreshore Estate, a prominent fishing locality located south of Marina beach.
This year, the intensity of the high tides is said be severe. When Express visited the spot, fishermen gave varying versions on the extent of damage. At least, 50 houses were found to be fully or partially damaged. One full row of houses, along a one km stretch, have been washed away. Several household items like plastic containers were seen floating in the water and women trying to retrieve them.
Jayalakshmi told Express that she has been residing in the locality all her life and never experienced such a problem even during the Tsunami in 2004. Post 2004, the sea had become rough and year after year the situation worsened. But in 2009 and 2016, there was heavy property damage. “And again, this year we are experiencing similar disaster,” she said.
The sea has been battering Foreshore Estate since the last 15 days triggering massive sea erosion. Every time, a swell hit the tenements it carries away chunks of sand weakening the foundation and making the houses unstable and unsuitable for living. Finally, scores of houses gave-in on Tuesday forcing people to take shelter in the neighboring houses or elsewhere.
Another fisherman Sridhar, who was seen building a wall with sand bags and wooden sticks in front of his sister’s house that partially collapsed two days ago, alleges that though things are worsening and houses being washed away, neither the government or the fisheries department bothered to pay a visit. “We want State government to find a remedy to our problem. We all depend on fishing for our livelihood. We have no other place to go. We just hope that the tide recedes soon so that we can rebuild our house.”
In a query, Devan, resident of housing board colony at Foreshore Estate, agreed that fishermen were inviting danger by ‘illegally’ constructing houses dangerously close to sea. “Fifty years back, State government allotted houses for fishermen in housing board, but the population swelled in all these years. All depend on fishing and need shelter. They started constructing houses on the shore and government allowed them leading to a crisis kind of situation now. There are about 800 houses. The only solution is they should be allotted houses in areas like Semmancheri and Kannagi Nagar,” he sai. Vani, whose family of six lost shelter, said: “People are ready to move.”
When contacted, a senior State fisheries department official told Express that fishermen know the danger. It’s a very sensitive matter involving socio-economic issues. “We are talking with the government to find a solution to this,” the official said. Some locals also accuse that the groyne field that was built at Kovalam, 30 km away towards Mahabalipuram, three years ago aggravated the problem.
However, S.A. Sannasiraj, professor, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT-Madras, disputed the argument. “The groyne field at Kovalam, which IIT Madras has designed, has nothing to do with the problem at Foreshore Estate. What is happening here is seasonal. Swell waves are common during Southwest monsoon. If we can’t build hard structures like sea wall or groynes because it can trigger another set of problems with Marina beach in the neighbourhood, we can find some soft engineering solutions after studying the area, if the State government approaches us.”
Meanwhile, TM Balakrishnan Nair of Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), told Express that high wave alert was sent to Tamil Nadu government. “High waves in the range of 3.0 - 3.5 metres were forecast between 5.30 pm on June 25 to 11.30 pm on June 27 along the coast of Southern Tamil Nadu from Kolachel to Dhanushkodi.
“Strong winds reaching 35-45 kmph gusting to 55 kmph are likely along and off North Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts.” Fishermen have been advised not to venture into sea. But, the problem at Foreshore Estate might be influenced by local factors. At times, during Southwest monsoon, high wave energy gets concentrated and release in few isolated areas which triggers coastal erosion. This may be such a case. INCOIS will study the area to know more,” he said.