The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Waves of fear engulf coastal villages

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Thursday, Oct 25, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Waves of fear engulf coastal villages

Special Correspondent

Boats and catamarans berthed on the shore tossed about

Photo: T. Singaravelou

Face of fury: Waves dashing against a protective wall put up along the coast at Bommaiyarpalayam in Villupuram district on Wednesday. —

VILLUPURAM: Residents of coastal villages such as Bommaiyarpalayam and Chinna Mudaliar Chavadi in Vanur taluk panicked on Wednesday when high tides tossed about their boats and catamarans berthed on the shore.

A couple of boats were found thrown over a protective wall built out of palmirah tree trunk along the coast at Bommaiyarpalayam. The villagers said that the sea started getting unusually rough on Tuesday night and hence they had pulled the boats ashore. However, 15 catamarans and five fibreboats were carried away by high tides that started at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday. The boats were found at some distance from where they had been berthed.

Though the sea usually gets rough during full moon days, the waves rose above the normal level on Wednesday, the villagers said. Some nets kept in the boats were also lost.

Ever since the 2004 tsunami, the people settled along the coast have been living in fear. A wall made of palmirah tree trunk was erected for a length of 300 ft at Bommaiyarpalayam. Ten ft of the structure was driven into the soil and eight ft left above the ground. The waves overshot the wall and threw the boats over it on Wednesday.

Residents of both the villages have been seeking groynes along the coast for quite sometime to prevent sea erosion. They had also staged agitations several times.

On Wednesday when the villagers tried to block traffic, Special Deputy Collector (Relief and Rehabilitation) S. Natarajan and Vanur tahsildar intervened.

Mr. Natarajan said the villagers wanted speedy construction of permanent houses for them. There were about 50 households at Bommaiyarpalayam that had to be shifted.

A piece of land belonging to the Maiylam mutt had been identified for the purpose and the district administration was awaiting government order to take possession of it. Within a week the tender process for house construction would begin, Mr. Natarajan said.

One of the four groynes to be built by the Public Works Departments had come up at Chandiriankuppam and proposals for the remaining had been sent to the PWD Chief Engineer, Mr. Natarajan said.

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