Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Jul 8: Rainy season and natural calamities associated with it have returned to haunt the people, particularly those who live near the sea. The sea has acquired intimidating stance, it has turned tumultuous, and huge waves have been whipping the shore with vengeance. Sea erosion has remained constant over the years, with no permanent solution in the offing. Visit of legislators, ministers, and MPs has been the only permanent feature of this never-ending saga of people living at the mercy of the sea.

Sea erosion, which has been threatening lives of people and property in coastal villages like Maravante, Gangolli, Madikal, Paduvari, Dombe, Shirur and other parts of the taluk, is not a problem that took birth in the recent past. If the concerned had shown the commitment and will power required tp handle this problem, permanent solution would have taken shape long back. The politicians believe in learning the nuances of war only after the battle begins. Therefore, they just dole out big promises after visiting the seashore only after sea erosion becomes serious. This has been an annual experience of the people here.

Sea erosion brings lot of cheer to the clan of stone contractors. Because this is the season when they get contract to stack huge boulders at the seashore. No one keeps count of how many loads have been unloaded at the sea because shortfall can always attributed to huge waves which keep gobbling up the boulders stashed there. So, every year, funds which get diverted from natural calamity and other funds directly gets drained into the sea. If the money used every year for these temporary measures had been put together, permanent protective walls would have come up all along the coast by now.

Kerala boasts of permanent protective wall, in spite of the fact that its coastal line is 320 km long, just like Karnataka. If only will power had got the better of listlessness of leaders, we would have got a permanent protective wall by now. The people living near the sea may have been able to lead a tension-free life by now, but our elected representatives do not seem to be willing to do that. No one is able to give a convincing reply to the question as to why Karnataka is lagging lot behind Kerala in providing permanent protective wall at the seashore. Other than spending money in the name of survey and assessment on the desirability of building a permanent wall, nothing else has materialized till now. None of the governments which ruled the state so far has been an exception as far as this issue is concerned.

Ministers, legislators etc of every party that has ruled the state have made elaborate promises after visiting sea erosion spots. As usual, they reproduce the dialogues of the last year, and go back, duly forgetting about sea erosion once sea is out of sight. Whenever people living near the sea are asked whether people's representatives had visited their village, the usual answer one gets is, 'who cares?'. Because they know visits are meaningless unless followed by some concrete action. Whenever erosion poses serious problem, instruction goes to contractors to pour some loads of huge boulders. This step benefits none except the concerned contractors. Within a couple of days since the boulders are stacked, they vanish from there.

Strangely, the administrative system, which is aware that sea erosion will come again to haunt every year during the rainy season, remains in hibernation till the problem knocks at their doors. No creative discussions are held. People are fed up by same visits, same promises, same photos of visitors standing near the sea.

The problem of sea erosion has acquired alarming proportions in places like Kody, Belikeri in Gangolli, Light House, Maravante, Kalihitlu, Uppunda, Madikal, Shirur and other such places. Several houses on the seashore at Tarapati and Dombe areas are facing grave danger by the sea erosion. Over 300 families in these regions are frustrated by the nagging threat from the waves. Surprisingly, politicians lack will power to execute their promises, and the panchayats have not thought of shifting families of these houses to safer places. Lack of government land in Paduvari area for such an exercise also poses a genuine challenge.

As soon as new presidents took over their respective gram panchayats this time around, they are facing the problem of handling this serious issue. New president of Paduvari, Deepa Shetty, and vice president, Sadashiva Paduvari, visited the sea erosion spot and undertook inspection. They told the media persons that the issue of providing a permanent solution to the problem has been brought to the attention of MLAs and MP, and discissions have been held towards getting permanent solution to the problem.

This is an ancient problem, which has continued to survive because of lack of will power on the part of government officials and politicians. A permanent solution is feasible, but it has remained a mirage because of the attitude of the concerned.

Works on Maravante outer port are proceeding at snail's pace. The haphazard work done so far has survived through two rainy seasons. Most of the sand, stones, and tetra pods have been washed away into the depths of Arabian Sea. As the works are not progressing fast, sea continues to submerge nearby garden and land. Even the concrete road had been partially damaged during last year. This year, these problems have come to haunt the region and the people once again.