Church on seashore near Thoothukudi may submerge due to erosion

A 23-year-old church on Tharuvaikulam beach is about to be washed away by the rapidly advancing sea as the groyne construction is yet to begin in this village despite repeated appeals from villagers, especially from fishermen.

The church, dedicated to St. Santhiyagappar (St. James), was built on the seashore about 750 meters away from the shoreline as fishermen construct church or temple for their ‘patron saint’ or deities near the shoreline from where they go for fishing everyday.

“We celebrate the 10-day festival of this church every year in mid-July. When the church was built in 2002, the shoreline was about 750 meters away from the church. More than 100 palmyra trees were standing between the shoreline and the church. Now, after engulfing about 740 meters of land with the fully-grown palmyra trees, the sea is advancing towards the land further. The sea erosion has already swallowed nearby fishnet mending hall on the seashore. Sensing this threat, we collected over ₹15 lakh from Tharuvaikulam fishermen for heaping concrete boulders near the church to temporarily check the tides, which now lash just eight meters away from the place of worship. We have appealed to the Department of Fisheries to construct full-fledged groyone in our village to save the 300 mechanised boats and 200 fibreglass country boats in Tharuvaikulam,” said fisherman M. Antony Francis and S. Jesurajan, both from Tharuvaikulam.

The Tharuvaikulam fishermen cite the Fisheries Department’s ‘biased approach’ in sanctioning groynes to the coastal hamlets across Tamil Nadu.

“When the fishermen of the coastal hamlets of Kanniyakumari and Tirunelveli districts submitted petition to Minister Anita R. Radhakrishnan, the demand was fufilled immediately. The protest by the Amali Nagar fishermen in the Minister’s Tiruchendur Assembly constituency ensured immediate sanctioning of groyne to the village after getting special permission from the National Green Tribunal. At the same time, we, are generating ₹100 crore revenue every year by harvesting fishes, and are waiting indefinitely for groyne, thanks to official apathy,” said Mr. Antony Francis.

Ottapidaaram MLA M.C. Shanmugaiah said the survey by experts to study the tide patterns of this area during different seasons of the calender year and the possible formation of the groyne for neutralising the waves were being done for the past six months and the report by the surveyors would be submitted shortly.

“Groyne construction is the only solution for stopping sea erosion at Tharuvaikulam. Once the survey report by experts is submitted to the government, the required funds – anywhere between ₹90 crore and ₹120 crore – will be released by the government before January with the help of Thoothukudi MPKanimozhi,” Mr. Shanmugaiah assured.