Every Sunday, residents from Kochi flock to Puthenthode Beach in Kannamaly to relish the sunset and enjoy the surf. However, the same waves that attract visitors pose a severe threat to local communities. Just a short distance from the beach lies a dilapidated Latin chapel, its roof and walls severely damaged by relentless waves that recently breached newly installed geobags meant to protect the shoreline. “This was a house. We are standing on top of it now,” said a local resident, gesturing towards the debris of what once was a home. “There is nothing left. The sea has taken it away.”
Earlier this year, Kerala experienced a significant episode of coastal flooding in Kannamaly. With the absence of a robust seawall and the inadequate defenses of neighboring areas, the growing strength of tides wreaked havoc, especially during monsoon storm surges. The situation escalated to the point where residents protested by blocking the Fort Kochi-Alappuzha State highway with a fishing vessel and other debris swept in by the waves. This blockade disrupted a crucial segment of the state’s road network, causing traffic congestion that extended to Vytilla. Approximately 600 households in the Cheriyakkadavu-Kannamaly area were impacted, with several homes suffering partial or total damage.
The recently installed geobags, intended as temporary barriers against wave action, have failed to provide effective protection. “When the waves crash with their force, they tear open the geobags and add to the sand washed ashore and into our homes. They are quick-fix solutions that don’t offer lasting aid,” one resident explained.
As the sustainability of geobags remains under scrutiny, it is vital to pursue more permanent solutions to coastal erosion. Addressing the root causes of maldevelopment and unscientific planning, which exacerbate environmental degradation, is crucial for areas like Kannamaly facing intensified sea intrusion. The urban growth of Kochi has placed additional strain on social and environmental systems in peripheral regions where increased tidal forces threaten communities lacking strong seafront defenses. Local residents have called for the construction of tetrapod structures and improved disaster management responses as such disasters continue to occur more frequently.
Nearby the beach stands a football ground frequented by local youth, some engaged in play while others occupy themselves on their phones. Yet, the atmosphere is tinged with uncertainty. “In four or five years, this ground will not exist,” warned one young participant, indicating the encroaching waves and the newly-constructed geobag wall. “They placed the new walls behind the old ones that were destroyed in the last tidal surge. The ground keeps getting smaller.” This precarious situation leads to a daily struggle for youth who continue to confront the reality of an eroding coastline that threatens their cherished community.
The Kerala State Action Plan on Climate Change (2023-2030) identifies the state as vulnerable to multiple hazards. Regions like Kannamaly epitomize broader trends statewide; coastal districts account for nearly 59% of Kerala’s land area, with a dense population. Long-term assessments from the National Centre for Coastal Research between 1990 and 2016 reveal alarming statistics: 45% of Kerala’s coastline is eroding, while only 21% is accreting. With over 30% of the population residing along the coastline, predominantly marginalized communities including Latin Catholics, Muslims, and oppressed-caste Hindus, safeguarding these fragile coasts is both a policy imperative and a socio-political necessity.
“What more is there to say? Media channels will come, report on this, and then the story will fade,” lamented a resident, pointing at sand-filled homes beside the crashing waves. “We are left to live in a situation where the sea is entering our house.” Another resident recounted the frightening reality: “At night, you can hear rocks rolling beneath the sea, feeling the vibrations from your room. The waves take those rocks and hurl them at the geobags, tearing them open and sending more sand rushing into our homes.” He recalled his role in ferrying COVID-19 patients to safer areas while his home remained inundated. “Everyone praised the fishermen during the 2018 floods, but where are they now when our houses are underwater?” he asked, expressing disillusionment with political representatives. “They came asking for votes this year too. We didn’t cast our votes. We’ve lost faith in the systems meant to represent us.”
After the highway blockade and a hunger strike led by church authorities and NGOs that shut down traffic at the Thoppumpady BOT junction on June 21, the Kerala Cabinet approved the ₹306 crore second phase of the tetrapod seawall project. This initiative, covering a 3.6 km stretch from Puthenthodu to Cheriyakadavu, was cleared on July 2.
However, questions linger about Kerala’s commitment to addressing coastal erosion. Climate change is accelerating sea-level rise, while unchecked construction inland disrupts natural water flow. Kerala benefits from the first monsoon landfall in the Indian subcontinent, producing rich, fertile plains, but mismanagement threatens to turn this blessing into a catastrophe.
Without decisive action, the state faces a dire future, vulnerable to both rising seas on one side and freshwater flooding on the other, as recently seen in Edakochi. Innovative measures such as coastal land reclamation, enhanced waterways, a transition to renewable energy, and the establishment of a future-proof society that embraces technological advancements while coexisting with nature are urgently needed. The aim is not perfection but to safeguard Kerala against emerging threats of inundation.
As sunset descended over the waves—now more visible through the gaps in the failing seawall, leaving the geobag walls still awaiting proper construction—a group of boys gathered by their diminishing football ground, its borders consumed by storm surges. Like youth anywhere, they aspire to play another day on the same familiar patch of earth. Yet, if urgent measures are not implemented, they may have to seek their next game not on the field but in the middle of a highway.
Callistine J. Lewis holds an M.A. in Conflict Analysis and Peacebuilding from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, and is a researcher focused on coastal communities, development, and policy neglect along India’s coastline.
Tags: coastal erosion, Kerala, Kannamaly, rising sea levels, climate change
Hashtags: #call #sea #swallows #home #Keralas #Kannamaly #faces #rising #coastal #erosion
