Life is literally like hanging on the edge for 160 families in the Kozhikode Corporation, who live next to the sea.
A recent survey by Pink Alert, the disaster response force of the corporation Kudumbashree, showed that 50 houses had been damaged by the sea, and 40 had no toilet facilities.
The survey was conducted as part of extending the services of Pink Alert to the coastal belt. Around 100 volunteers of Pink Alert visited 800 houses in the coastal area to directly assess the situation and found that at least 25 houses did not have title deeds, while at least 15 families had grievances about the categorisation of revenue land into zones.
“The absence of proper toilets is a major issue in many houses. They have some makeshift arrangements and some crumbling old public toilets. While adults make do with it out of desperation, children mostly defecate in the open,” said M.V. Ramsy Ismail, Kudumbashree project officer for the corporation. Though the city was declared Open Defecation Free a few years ago, the said houses never came under its purview as they were not numbered. “The houses are unauthorised constructions. They are located within 50 metres from the coastline and hence comes under the coastal regulatory zone. Hence, no government or local body can help them,” Mr. Ismail said.
Pink Alert has extended a helping hand on humanitarian grounds and plans to rope in charity organisations to help in the construction of toilets for the houses. Besides, help worth ₹2 lakh is being provided, including tarpaulin sheets to roof 40 houses, food kits for 50 families and medicines worth ₹1,000 each for 60 families. Pink Alert has also identified several people who needed counselling in the belt. The aids will be distributed on Wednesday.