Tense scenes unfolded at the regional office of the Kerala State Maritime Board in Valiyathura on Monday when numerous fisher families including those who have been languishing in relief camps for several years protested against the delay in their rehabilitation.
Nearly 60 families who hailed from places including Valiythura, Puthenthope and Beemapally have been residing in four camps that have been functioning in various schools and godowns in the region since 2016.
Such displaced families along with many others who were rendered homeless in the sea erosions that ravaged the coast during the last few years attempted to barge into the office. Accusing the government of abandoning them by making hollow promises, the agitators refused to disperse until they were provided a concrete assurance of plans to rehabilitate them.
Narrating their woes, the aggrieved families claimed they lived in pitiable and insecure conditions. A section of such dwellers who had been accommodated at the St. Roch’s High School, Thope, were also peeved at the authorities’ request to shift to a warehouse that, they alleged, lacked basic amenities.
The situation threatened to take a turn for the worse when a group of the protestors attempted to jump into the sea from the Valiyathura pier.
The protesters later called off their demonstration following a meeting that was convened by Thiruvananthapuram Tahsildar S. Shaji.
Mr. Shaji said the families who have been residing in relief camps would be provided priority in the Fisheries Department’s housing project that will soon get under way in Valiyathura. The construction of the new flat complex meant to accommodate 192 families will commence in January, he pointed out.
He added the other beneficiaries will be identified by the Fisheries Department in accordance with government norms.
