More than the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on their livelihoods, the residents of Konthuruthy are distraught about the blow it dealt to their protest.
The protest, demanding suitable rehabilitation if they were evicted to clear the way for the waters of the Konthuruthy river, had clocked 56 days when the lockdown was imposed in March.
A forlorn protest tent still stands on Konthuruthy road to mark its continuance, albeit with a board saying that the Thevara-Konthuruthy Action Council heeds the Health Department’s COVID-19-related orders. “Several elderly residents of the area would join the protest every day. Keeping their safety in mind, the tent stands abandoned,” said Santosh T.K., who runs a small shop in the area and is the joint convenor of the action council. After all, they had the most to lose if they were evicted.
For Augustine P.M., a woodworker who has lived in the area for 50 years, since he was 10, moving now would be difficult. “My wife is unwell. Moving from here, where my work is, and supporting the two of us anywhere else would be impossible,” he said.
After a recent High Court order to clear encroachments in the area within a year, residents have nearly resigned themselves to the fact that they will have to move, Santosh said. “All we ask now is that we are given rehabilitation close by to keep our lives and livelihoods intact. Several people here either work in the Thevara market or as helps in some houses nearby,” he added. With the jobs they have, legal help is difficult to pay for, he pointed out.
The reasoning behind the situation still evades them, said P.B. Siju, auto driver and convenor of the action council. “While there are 129 families here totally, we are unsure about how many of us will have to move. There appears to be no clarity about the width of the river that is to be maintained. We have heard that the original width was 48 metres. But if the nearby Thevara-Perandoor canal itself is not that wide now, why must the Konthuruthy river be increased to that width,” he asked. “The corporation seems to have asked that a width of 16 metres be maintained to reduce the number of houses that will have to be cleared. But we no longer know what the width will be,” he said.