Climate change, coastal erosion and communities

Kumar Sahayaraju

“Can you see the place where the tides are coming? That was my house a few years ago. We used to work and play on the beach in front of the house. There was a volleyball court on the left where we used to spend our evenings, now you can see the broken walls of homes there. And we are homeless, landless, and staying in warehouses as refugees in our own native place,” says Ignatius, a middle-aged traditional fisherman from Valiyathura.

For most of us, beaches are places to spend our weekends or holidays. A calm place to enjoy the sunset with family! But there are entire communities that are living on and off beaches and their erosion not only wipes out our recreational destinations but also uproots these communities. Kerala’s seashores, which are the confluence of land and sea, and the fishing community that inhabits them are facing a threat to their existence today.

‘Coast’al communities
Apart from fishing, on parts of Kerala’s coast, agriculture is also undertaken. As their lives are entwined with the coast, people living by the sea are called coastal communities; communities that have no identity without the coast. The coast not only offers them livelihood, but their culture has also evolved out of their relationship with the sea. Fisherfolk in Thiruvananthapuram call the sea “kadalamma” (mother sea) and follow an indigenous life associated with the sea.

Space for livelihood
“KaramadikampaaVilayattalle
KaaluPottaatheruvaaPodu
Madiyeratte..Meenpadatte
Eley..Elayyaam.”

This is a song that the fisherfolk sing when they fish using the kambavala, a large shore seine net that requires up to 40 people at a time to hold it and lay it out in the sea waters near the shore. It is one of the oldest fishing methods in south Kerala and one that employs elderly fisherfolk as well, as they don’t have to go out into the sea to fish. The net needs large swathes of land to be spread out on. Shrinking beaches have made it difficult for fisherfolk to lay out their nets, keep their boats and other equipment. Today, both the songs and the practice of fishing using the kambavala are disappearing with the beaches.

There are also fishing practices like chulliyidal, mattuvayppu (hook and line fishing), veeshuvala, karakkuvala (net fishing), all of which are done from the beach. Beaches are also essential for the safe landing and launching of fishing boats. They serve as a docking place that assures the safety of fishing equipment and gears. Most pre and post-fishing activities also happen on the beach, such as removing the fish from the nets, auctioning, repairing and drying fishing materials. Fish vendors use the beach for drying fish in the sunlight.

Residence for many
About 30% of Kerala’s population lives in the coastal region due to the unique topography of the state. Coastal areas in Kerala in general and Thiruvananthapuram, in particular, fall under high population density areas. According to a study report* of the Department of Fisheries, there are 3,367 houses within 10 meters from the high tide line. Most of these are in Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha districts. It is estimated that there are 18,685 houses within 50 metres. More than 100 houses are disappearing every year due to coastal erosion in Kerala. Can you imagine helplessly watching your house collapse under water?

Not only humans, coastal erosion has also led to a significant reduction and destruction of marine life on the beach and in the intertidal region. Crabs and sand crabs need intertidal and beach sand to live on. There are gastropod shellfish that live in the soil between the coast and the sea. Birds such as seagulls hunt for prey on the shores. During their breeding season, turtles lay their eggs on the shores. When shorelines erode and sandbanks are replaced by rocks, habitat and breeding grounds for these species will also vanish.

Place of commons and culture
Coastal people use beaches as common spaces for communal, cultural, and occupational gatherings. They work, meet, play, dine, sleep, and are even buried on beaches. Once upon a time, the beach used to transform into a movie theatre as well, as communities gathered together to watch a movie on a makeshift screen. Women would also play games on the beach in the evenings.

There are also many cultural customs that are practiced on the beach. The Mukkuva indigenous community in Thiruvananthapuram, used to have processions all along the coast carrying the memorial of Jesus on Good Friday for generations. Now they take out the procession on the road. “Meenoottu” is a traditional practice of the Araya community, a ritual conducted to get a good catch throughout the year. The Muslim community of Thiruvananthapuram, celebrates Ramadan by taking out processions and celebrating along the beach. Indigenous games like “PanniOotti” (Whale and Dolphin) – a run chase game, “UppuPanthu” (Salt Ball) – sand block game, are part of the culture of the fishing community and are played on beaches. A disappearing beach will take away all these aspects from the community.

Maracana of coastal football
For youngsters from the coastal belt of the district that stretches about 74 km from Pozhiyoor near Kanyakumari to Anjuthengu close to Kollam, football is in their blood. At a time when the city loses its natural playgrounds to rapid urbanization and resorts to artificial turfs, sun-kissed beaches have been serving football fans from the coastal community well. There’s a lot of difference between playing football on the beach and on grass. One needs a lot more stamina to run on sand and this automatically allows for physical conditioning. This is the secret behind the “fighting spirit” naturally instilled in the youngsters from the community from playing barefoot under challenging conditions. The fishing hamlet of Pozhiyoor in south Kollemcode, some 35 km from the city, is also known as the ‘Santosh Trophy Village’ for the sheer number of players from here who have made it to the prestigious tournament. Vettucaud and Valiyathura are also villages that have gifted us players who made the grade on the big stages in national and ISL games. Unfortunately, Pozhiyoor, Vettucaud, and other villages known for their football glory are now facing severe coastal erosion and the future of coastal football is also under threat.

Not only to football but the coastal stretches in Thiruvananthapuram have also contributed many volleyball players, cricket players, and athletes to the country. Sanju Samson, Indian cricket player and Alex Antony who represented India in Tokyo Olympics (in athletics) shared in their interviews the role that beaches played in helping them refine their games.

Beaches would always come back. But not anymore!
Kerala’s 590 km long coastline is a dynamic coastal stretch. It lies sandwiched between the Arabian Sea on the west and the Western Ghats on the east. Its coast is intercepted by 41 rivers that originate from the Western Ghats and flow into the Arabian Sea through inlets that are connected to the sea via estuaries/lagoons.

Coastal erosion is the wearing away of the land by the sea. It is a long-term removal of sediment along the coastline. On dynamic shorelines, coastal erosion is a seasonal process. The littoral current is a combination of longshore currents that flow parallel to the shore and cross-shore currents that flow onshore-offshore. These currents transport sediment in both directions and the beaches recede and accrete seasonally. Kerala has three distinct seasons – pre-monsoon from February to May, the southwest monsoon from June to September, and the northwest post-monsoon from October to January. ThelivuNaal and Varshakaalam in fisherfolk language. Longshore currents generally flow north to south during the monsoon and in the opposite direction in other seasons. One of the primary reasons for erosion is the influence of monsoonal and non-monsoonal waves. Beaches, after being subjected to seasonal erosion, are capable of regaining their original shape. “Kadal kondupoyathu kadal thane konduvarum,” (whatever the sea takes, the sea will bring back) is a proverb among the fishing community.

Natural beach formation has been adversely affected by the erosion of rivers that bring sand, sediment, and organic matter to the coastal area. Also, natural calamities such as tsunamis, storms, and cyclones have dramatically increased the rate of coastal erosion. While the vagaries of nature are slowly causing shorelines to recede, developmental activities along the coast are speeding up the process.

An NCESS (National Centre for Earth Science Studies) study** has indicated that coastal development in the form of urbanization, tourism, and “unscientific shoreline protection methods” has led to the coastline becoming unstable in Kerala. Anthropogenic activities such as the construction of hard structures (breakwaters, seawalls, groynes), dredging of channels, beach/river sand mining, and damming of rivers have a negative impact on the coast. They obstruct the natural flow of water, cause a shortage of sediment supply, and cause erosion on one part of the land and accretion on another part. Once this displacement happens, there is no scope of the sand coming back, as it is blocked by the structure. This kind of erosion is irreversible. A sea wall may protect the structures immediately behind it, but it can also exacerbate coastal erosion on both sides (called end erosion). Beaches are essential to prevent the sea levels from rising due to climate change, but unscientific human interventions are destroying beaches.

Today, Kerala’s coast is dotted with many artificial structures as part of the so called “development” activities. Increasing construction activities, stronger storms in the Arabian Sea (a consequence of climate change), and rising sea levels will severely affect the health and stability of the coastline and its settlements. This is why fisherfolk now say, “Beaches would always come back. But not anymore.”

Refugees in their native land
Many fishing families have lost their homes to the sea and have been shifted to relief camps. The fisherfolk of Valiyathura and Cheriyathura in Thiruvananthapuram were sent to relief camps four years ago when the sea washed their houses away. They are staying in warehouses and school rooms. Ten to fifteen families are forced to stay in a single room and the number of families that are losing their homes is only increasing by the year. From living in their own houses and land, these families are forced to live like refugees in camps with no electricity, water and sanitation facilities. School and college students in the community are in distress as they don’t have adequate facilities to study.

While the state government has offered financial assistance and compensation, these displaced families are not happy as the compensation offered is not enough to help them buy houses and if they move away from the sea, they don’t know what they will do for a living. These communities don’t get loans from banks because coastal areas are vulnerable and no bank wants to take the risk. Also they don’t have any properties to give as surety, since they are washed away by the sea. This has been the experience of 65-year-old Joseph, whose home was completely destroyed in the cyclone last year. “The sea is our home. This is our homeland. This is our kadalamma (mother sea). We cannot leave this place. Our government needs to do better,” he says. The loss of fishing days due to bad weather also increases the difficulty to survive.

Beach and associated livelihood matters
Beaches are primarily the indigenous property of coastal communities. Man-made constructions and climate-induced events destroy beaches and make the communities dependent on beaches vulnerable. It is the responsibility of the government to assure the right to life and livelihood of coastal communities, because they are also part of the system, contributors to the economy, and people of the ecosystem.

The best way to arrest beach erosion is to protect the existing beaches. All kinds of development projects on the sea and coast should stop. Eroding beaches means eroding the resilience to mitigate climate change. We have to rethink our coastal development projects and coastal protection measures in a sustainable way that assures the long-term protection of the coast and coastal communities. Also, we have to formulate adaptation and mitigation strategies for the conservation of beaches and communities in the context of the changing climate. If we don’t act, we will soon see beaches only in our Facebook and Instagram memories, and communities living near the beach will become a tragic past story.

*http://fisheries.kerala.gov.in/sites/default/files/inline-files/Thrissur_0.pdf

**https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12594-018-1072-x

The author is a Chevening scholar and Indigenous Marine Researcher from Mukkuva Indigenous fishing Community in Thiruvananthapuram. As a founding member of the Coastal Students Cultural Forum (CSCF) in Kerala, he is undertaking marine environment related voluntary activism and promoting ocean literacy with coastal youth and graduate students. He can be reached at kumar@dakshin.org.