Residents of Thanthonnithuruthu taking out a march to the office of the Goshree Islands Development Authority seeking steps to construct an outer bund to protect the island from inundation | Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin

High-level meet to discuss Thanthonnithuruthu issue, says Minister

CRZ panel has not given permission to go ahead with the proposal to build an outer bund around the island, says Rajeeve; residents blame GIDA for their plight

by · The Hindu

Industries Minister P. Rajeeve on Thursday said a high-level meeting would be held to find a solution to the issue of frequent flooding of homes on Thanthonnithuruthu even as island residents virtually laid siege to the office of the Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA) holding it responsible for the situation.

Mr. Rajeeve said that the priority was to prevent water incursion on the island. He also added that the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) panel had not given permission to go ahead with the proposal to build an outer bund around the island.

Thanthonnithuruthu, a small island near Kochi, is home to around 60 families. Residents alleged that GIDA’s lackadaisical attitude resulted in the island being frequently flooded, and residents are forced to drain water from inside their homes after high tides on a daily basis.

“The situation is extremely worse and it is nowimpossible to live on the island any longer,” said Ambas P.P., secretary of a recently formed association of residents demanding an outer bund for the island to prevent tidal water incursion.

He said the situation worsened in the past two months.

He alleged that though the State government had sanctioned funds for raising the low-lying areas prone to flooding and erecting a broad ring around the island, the projects were not carried out due to the delay on the part of the GIDA authorities.

Residents also claimed that CRZ clearance was an excuse for not carrying out flood prevention work on the island.

Mr. Ambas alleged a conspiracy to evict residents from the island to sell it. He claimed that GIDA’s inaction indicated the plan to evict the residents.

Residents said the island improvement work, including filling up low-lying areas with sand and building an outer bund, had been sanctioned about 12 years ago and administrative sanction had been provided for a total of ₹9.5 crore.

Published - December 13, 2024 01:32 am IST