Tourism project threatens livelihood of local fishers at Ezhome in Kannur

KANNUR

When people return home at dusk, 62-year-old Kamalakshi and other members of her community (Schedule Caste) at Muttukandi Poduthadam in Ezhome panchayat set out from their homes to the nearby Kuppam-Valapattanam river.

When water recedes during low tide, they at once get to work to catch shrimp, crab, and others. However, the recent activities on the tourism front as part of the Malanad Malabar River Cruise project are posing a threat to their livelihood.

The area, nearly 250 metres from the Pazhangadi market in Ezhome panchayat, where they have been traditionally catching shrimp, has been filled with red soil brought in trucks. Machines operate round the clock as part of the construction of a boat gallery under the tourism project.

Amid the chaos, people like Kamalakshi are helpless as they watch the riverside fast disappear. According to her, such mega projects are proving a death knell for her community, whose members depend on fishing in the riverside for a living, she says.

Rajan, a fisherman, who is known for his initiatives to protect mangroves, says the area has been proposed for the mangrove cruise route. However, large tracts of mangrove forest had already been destroyed for Kaippad farming. “Now, tourism projects are posing a threat. Unfortunately, officials have turned facilitators by remaining mute spectators,” he adds.

P.S. Sajeev, president, Environmental Protection and Research Council, says court rulings, officials are acting in an irresponsible manner.

Incidentally, the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Management Authority is yet to approve the Tourism department’s proposal to construct a boat terminal and gallery in the locality as it had failed to specify the location where the project is coming up.