Coastal erosion has left Pozhiyoor, a village in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district, battered. The relentless assault of the sea over the years has ruined houses and neighbourhoods. Rosamma, 65, fears that the waves will devour her home in the next round of devastation. Once there was a kilometre of sandy beach between her home and the sea; now only 20 metres remain. The waves give her sleepless nights.
Politicians, she says, have long abandoned promises to build a groyne that could curb erosion. “Why should we vote in this election? When will we have a normal life?” she asks.
Disillusionment envelopes the neighbourhood as well. “We will boycott polls until a groyne is built on an emergency basis to protect the coast,” says a billboard erected by the civil society group Pozhiyoor Janakeeya Samithi.
The Catholic Church, which has considerable clout in the coastal belt, says it is not part of the boycott campaign. Vicar General Eugine H. Pereira, however, hinted that there has been a change in the church’s outlook on the Lok Sabha polls. “The church adopted an issue-based, value-based equidistant stance in 2004,” he told THE WEEK. “We now embrace a ‘right-distance’ stance, favouring candidates who understand and address the community’s concerns.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 28, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 28, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
