Work to place sand-filled geotextile bags along the coast of Chellanam to prevent sea erosion made good progress on Sunday under the supervision of the Revenue Department. A department official said that around 400 bags had been filled and they were being stacked up along the coast in the Bazaar area, which is the most affected by swelling sea and high waves.
People’s representatives and senior Revenue Department officials had met on Saturday to initiate immediate action as homes had been flooded in Companyppady, Bazaar and Velankanni North areas in the panchayat.
T.A. Dalphine, a resident of Chellanam, said that more geotextile bags would be available in the coming days and the work of placing these bags along the coast was expected to progress smoothly. He also said that dozens of volunteers had participated in sand-filling works on Sunday.
Vice president of Chellanam panchayat K.D. Prasad said that around 4,000 bags would be needed to protect the shores in the worst-affected areas. He said that the progress of the work was quite encouraging considering that the work had dragged on for a long time before it was called off temporarily by the Irrigation Department. The Irrigation Department had called off geotextiles tube works temporarily ahead of the rains.
Meanwhile, members of Paschima Kochi Theera Samrakshana Samiti said they would go ahead with picketing the panchayat office on Monday to protest against the failure of authorities to complete geotextile tube works before the monsoon set in.
Jinson Veluthamannungal of the Samiti said the concerns of people had been completely ignored by authorities and that Sunday’s speed and progress in sand-filling works was an eye-opener. If the same tactics were adopted earlier, the works could have been completed by now.
Samiti members have also expressed some apprehensions about the effectiveness of sandbags in preventing sea erosion.