Karnataka - Mangalore

Sea erosion assuming dangerous proportions in Dakshina Kannada

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

ON THEIR TOES: One of the houses at Muakkacherry, near Ullal, which was flooded by the tidal waves on Friday.

MANGALORE: “God will take care of us. We are helpless,” said Nassia tightly hugging her one-year-old fifth child Fahad as the unkind Arabian Sea’s giant waves lashed the manmade wall of rocks meant to prevent sea erosion at Ullal, near here.

Hers is one of hundreds of families that are spending sleepless nights and fearful days along the beaches of Ullal, not knowing how long they will withstand the nature’s fury. The gusty sea reminded them of its potential to create a major havoc on Friday at 10 a.m. when dozens of houses in Qilirianagar and Kaiko Road of Ullal were inundated in salty water in a flash.

Two television sets in separate houses tumbled down from their stands, a wall of a house collapsed, when a 30-year-old man found himself lucky to have survived the wrath of the sea in Qilirianagar.

Fisherman and daily wage worker Abdul Aziz was caught in neck deep water as a huge rock hit his leg. As he collapsed, a woman from the neighbourhood, Maimoona, tried to pull him away. She could not do so and she ran for safety. Mr. Aziz said he thought he would not survive the sudden flooding. “But being a good swimmer, I could reach a nearby coconut tree and hold on to it.” He said he was known for saving many lives of people who go for swimming in seawaters but had found himself in a dangerous situation. A few youngsters said an autorickshaw was fully under water.

People were seen digging pits in the middle of lanes and by-lanes so that the flood water could seep into the ground.

Near the Al-Masjid Rifaiya Masjid on Kaiko Road, hundreds of rocks had been flung as far as 20 metres away from the wall of rocks created to prevent sea erosion. Many houses had been inundated. A homemaker was so irritated when asked whether sea water had entered her house that she said sarcastically, “no sir, that was milk. We had great supply of milk, free of cost.” “Oresi oresi saakaytu…” (I am fed up of cleaning the house) said Ms. Nassia, who found that water entered her house – barely 10 ft away from the breakwater. She said she had to clean the house every time a big wave inundated her house because her child would, otherwise, play in the dirty water.

Although she and her mother-in-law Aisamma (65) said they sure knew that it was no longer safe to live in the house, they had no other go. Managing a smile, Ms. Nassia said, “We bought the house for Rs. 70,000 five years ago. Today nobody buys it. We cannot afford to stay in a rented house.” Her husband, Zubair, who has not been getting daily wage work after it started raining, was away.

Aboobakkar Siddique, a building contractor, alleged that politicians and officials visited the area when sea was relatively calm and promised action every year but never kept their promise.

Sea had been, the residents point out, eating land year after but flooding of houses on this scale had hardly been noticed earlier.

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