A BIG SEA SNAFU

The December 2004 tsunami took the lives of 171 people in Kerala, with one panchayat, Alappad in Kollam district, taking the brunt of it—132 lives lost in a single day. Situated on a narrow 16 km-long strip of land, and sandwiched between the Arabian Sea and the Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur water canal built in 1880, the coastal village has been protesting against the scourge of offshore black sand mining for over five decades now. But to no avail. In 1955, Alappad covered an area of 89.5 sq. km, today it is a whittled down 8.9 sq. km, the rest of the land taken by the tides.

- Jeemon Jacob

Now another deadly threat looms on the horizon. As per a new amendment, the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023, the Centre now has control of the state's coastal waters. The bill has brought several 'reforms', including auctioning of offshore mineral zones to private players through competitive bidding. Three zones are on the block in Kerala; the tender process for mining minerals in 242 sq. km off the Kollam coast was finalised on February 27.