KOCHI
Provisions in the State Budget for 2024-25 for coastal development are “disappointing” even as the Budget is virtually silent on issues like coastal area protection.
The Budget has earmarked ₹40 crore for the ‘Punargeham’ project to rehabilitate those who are immediately threatened by coastal erosion and families living within 50 metres of areas under constant threat from the sea.
While the Finance Minister claimed that the provision of ₹40 crore was double that of the previous year, coastal residents said the amount would be part of the over ₹400 crore initially allocated for the rehabilitation programme. Sherry M. Thomas of Kerala Region Latin Catholic Council said the ‘Punargeham’ project had been initially opposed on the grounds that the amount earmarked for each family to be rehabilitated was ₹10 lakh. The amount is not adequate to meet the requirements for buying a plot of land and building a house, he said.
The objection stands even as only a few people have opted for the rehabilitation programme so far, said Joseph Jude, representing the coastal community’s interests even as the Finance Minister said in his Budget presentation that since the financial year 2021-22, a total of ₹226.80 crore had been spent on the ‘Punargeham’ project.
In the last Budget, the Minister had said that in addition to the Budget provision in 2022-23, an amount of ₹67.75 crore was allocated for the ‘Punargeham’ scheme. The allocation for the scheme was enhanced from ₹16 crore to ₹20 crore in 2023-24.
Meanwhile, coastal residents are also disappointed that there is no direct mention of coastal protection work in the new Budget. V.T. Sebastian of Fort Kochi-Chellanam Janakiya Vedhi, a forum demanding establishment of comprehensive sea protection work between Fort Kochi and Chellanam, said there was no direct reference to completion of the coastal protection work in the coastal village.
He added that the erection of tetrapods along the Chellanam coast needed to be completed, and that the ‘Punargeham’ project did not have many takers among coastal residents.
The Budget also mentioned setting aside ₹10 crore for improving health infrastructure and setting up of de-addiction centres in tribal and coastal areas, while an amount of ₹136.98 crore was earmarked for coastal area development.
The Budget set aside ₹136.98 crore for coastal area development as a whole. Of this, ₹60 crore was earmarked for the project to ensure basic infrastructure and human resource development of fishermen. Of this, ₹15 crore is for education/coaching programmes, ₹5 crore for social mobilisation programmes and ₹17 crore for alternative livelihood for fisherwomen.
