POZHIYOOR(THIRUVANANTHAPURAM): A knocked-down wall sporting a faded graffiti, seeking votes for C Divakaran, the LDF candidate in the 2019 general elections, stands mute spectator to the rough sea that have wreaked havoc in this village on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border.
Most dwellings near the sea stand perched on the shoreline. The parched land has been on the boil. As the afternoon sun beats down mercilessly, a group of men gathers under a makeshift shade and works on the kambavala (gill nets).
“You see such penury only this side. Take a look at the other side; things are different. Won’t we feel bad?” asks one of the fishermen, pointing to the boundary stone that marks the Kerala-TN border.
In a way, this roughly 150-m-long stretch housing close to 25 families defines the state of affairs in border villages. About 13 of these familes are Kerala voters; others vote in TN.
“Elections? Is that what you want to enquire about? Can’t you see our pathetic state? So far 6-7 ministers, MPs and MLAs have come here. They visit, shower promises and leave. Nothing happens. Isn’t it all a farce? Why should we vote now,” quips Siluvapicha Antony, 56, a fisherman.
Elections hardly make any difference to the nearly 1,000 fishermen families in the Paruthiyoor Pozhiyoor and Kollemcode Pozhiyoor villages on the Kerala-TN border. Nestled in the boundary of Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari LS constituencies, the residents are often neglected by both governments.
A number of families staying across the border pay tax and electricity bills in Tamil Nadu, but possess ration cards and voting rights in Kerala. A few can seemingly vote in both states, but vouch they have never misused it. Whether they do or not, the fact is their concerns have always fallen on deaf ears.
Consistent coastal erosion, which they say is mainly due to a groyne across the border, has razed close to 300 houses in this coast, 30 of them last year alone. Increasing coastline destruction has affected close to 20,000 folks who are part of the 4,000 families inhabiting this belt. Helpless victims of ocean fury, many fishermen under two parishes here are seriously mulling boycotting the Lok Sabha election.
The sleepy coastal belt under Kulathur panchayat is also yet to wake up to the upcoming polls. NDA candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar dropped in for a lightning visit here last week. UDF’s Shashi Tharoor and LDF’s Pannian Raveendran are yet to make an appearance.
For the people here, back-to-back polls have only served to make voting a meaningless affair, as neither the elections nor candidates, have succeeded in leaving any positive impression on them.
For villagers, elections are a mere farce
With no regular work coming in and homes no longer safe, many residents were forced to relocate to places like Uchakkada. Some preferred to simply cross the border into TN, where service cost is much less. “We don’t have 24-hour electricity out here, but the tariff is exorbitant. I get a bill of Rs 2188 here, while across the border, bills are roughly around Rs 15- Rs 200. I wonder how,” says Anthonippichan, yet to recover from the shock of being slapped with such a hefty bill.
Fisherfolks here feel none, neither the state government nor the Centre, takes their cause seriously. That’s why they have been pondering a poll boycott. Nothing is official yet.
“There are about 4,000 families under the two parishes here. We have submitted our demands to the state government. These include construction of a fishing harbour, a groyne, and a sea wall. If our demands are not met, we will take a call on what’s next,” said Mariyadasan, secretary, Paruthiyoor Parish.
With shoreline erosion here to stay, many fishems find it difficult to get even a day’s work. Living in utter penury, some often go across the border where things are slightly better. “We took a day off today as we had plenty of work yesterday. People do come from across the border offering to work with kambavala here. We don’t object. After all, they are our brethren,” says Anthinipllai, 55, of Neerodi village that lies across the border under Kanyakumari constituency where Congress’ sitting MP Vijay Vasanth is defending his seat against BJP’s Pon Radhakrishnan and AIADMK’s Pasilian Nazerath.
While Pillai is a TN voter, his brother Xavier has his franchise in Kerala. There’s one thing in common though. Neither seem bothered about getting to know their candidates, as they are more or less convinced, that polls are a mere farce enacted at regular intervals to favour the powerful few! The daily drudgery of a wearisome life shall always be theirs to suffer!