While Kerala has become the most sought-after destination for migrant populations across India in search of a better life, the challenges faced by its own climate-displaced inhabitants remain overshadowed. Along Kerala’s coastal belt, tales of dilapidated homes, submerged land, and displaced communities underscore the urgent need to highlight their struggles.
Studies show that 65% of Kerala’s coastline is undergoing erosion, the second highest rate in the country after West Bengal’s 70%. Cyclones like Ockhi and Tauktae have exacerbated this crisis, causing further retreat of sandy beaches. Ironically, efforts to combat this, like hardening the coastline, are likely to be counterproductive in the long run, simply shifting erosion to other unprotected coasts and prompting further hardening interventions.
Exposed well rings after coastal erosion in Beemapally, Thiruvananthapuram. Photo: Aysha Jennath
Meanwhile, coastal dwellers grapple with the challenge of adapting to the rapidly evolving coastal landscape – a vital part of their cultural identity that they are reluctant to relinquish. As escalating climate change threatens their lives and livelihoods, it is crucial to amplify the voices of climate-displaced coastal communities and ensure that their immediate challenges as well as long-term needs are addressed through targeted policies and support programmes.
The story of proximal migration
Over the past four years, I have engaged with nearly 1,000 households from the coastal districts of southern Kerala – including Chellanam, Valiyathura, Purakkad, Ponnani, and Chavakkad – to understand how they are adapting to climate change.
Residents consistently express a deep attachment to the region and consider life in coastal areas to be the best, except for the threat of the encroaching sea. This is evident in their responses to extreme events: unless their house becomes uninhabitable, people prefer to go back, repair, rebuild and resettle. This cycle often continues for years before they start considering migration as a viable option. By then, they are financially exhausted and, in many cases, in debt.
Many coastal families have taken loans, both formal and informal, to upgrade their homes against harsh conditions. When damage occurred, they often spent between Rs 50,000 to 1 lakh to supplement government compensation. Yet, even these fortified houses often succumb to recurrent flooding and erosion, or extreme events like cyclones. People are then forced to depend on crowded relief camps, relatives or rented houses. Many families end up moving multiple times when they exhaust their favour with their relatives or deplete their savings by paying unaffordable rent. Although some families displaced by cyclones are eligible to receive government assistance with rent during the construction of housing projects, this support is often delayed or withheld due to administrative barriers. Many families remain trapped in such precarious conditions for years.
Measures taken by communities to stop the waves in Chellanam in Ernakulam district. After recurrent flooding, a plinth has been raised to block sea water from entering the compound. Photo: Aysha Jennath
A common pattern among those who migrate into their own houses is proximal migration, where they move only a few hundred metres to escape the immediate threat of the waves. Most families do not move beyond the boundaries of their village. As a result, they confront similar predicaments years later.
This proximal migration trend is driven by attachment to their villages, financial constraints and the challenges of continuing their fishing livelihoods. For fishermen, who constitute the majority of the coastal population, there is a profound connection and pride in their work, making them reluctant to consider alternative employment inland or in other urban areas. The profitability of fishing plummets even one kilometre from the shoreline. Families involved in fishing across generations now face the difficult choice of giving up their livelihood and culture to move inland or stay and deal with the angry seas.
Interventions for the population
Kerala’s Punergeham project provides Rs 10 lakh to households living within 50 metres from the high tide line to buy land and build a concrete house at least 200 metres away. While this is perhaps the only scheme in the country that proactively responds to the increasing vulnerability from climate change, the amount is often insufficient to cover land and construction costs which forced residents to incur additional debt. News of impending land purchases increase land values, further stacking the odds against the residents. The project had higher acceptance in Ambalappuzha and Ponnani, but misinformation hindered participation in places like Chellanam.
Relocation housing is provided for a limited number of coastal residents. However, often, the sociocultural and livelihood aspects are overlooked, leading to issues post-relocation. For instance, high-rise buildings recently provided for relocated households may be economically efficient but differ greatly from traditional housing, reducing their acceptability. Relocating fisherfolk to areas without access to harbours can lead to negative outcomes and increase financial vulnerability. Additional issues include lack of clean water, water logging, and inadequate drainage and waste management. These issues can drive people back to their origin areas, negating resettlement efforts.
Planned relocations must be sensitive towards traditional livelihoods and community ties as these factors contribute significantly to adaptive capacity and ease transition for affected populations. It is crucial to establish mechanisms for consistent government support post-relocation, including infrastructure development, livelihood opportunities and protection from further climate hazards such as urban flooding.
The government must cap land value surges near coastal areas to keep it affordable. Effective communication and public engagement through community forums can improve awareness and dispel misinformation about the relocation schemes. Policies should also safeguard projects from political disruptions.
Importantly, relocation should not be forced on those who wish to stay. Residents preferring to stay back want hard-engineered solutions like seawall and groynes for protection. While these protections seem reassuring on first glance, these are unsustainable in the long run.
Geotube deployed in the coastal stretches of Chavakkad in Thrissur district of Kerala. Photo: Aysha Jennath
Confidence in softer measures like geotubes remains low primarily due to poorly executed projects in areas like Poonthura and Chellanam. Geotubes are large fabric tubes, mostly made of polypropylene or polyester, are filled with sand or slurry, which can protect shorelines from erosion by absorbing the energy of incoming waves. The perception that hardened coasts are inherently safer should be challenged by promoting and implementing geotubes and beach nourishment, based on detailed coastal dynamics modelling.
Additionally, preserving coastal wetlands, which serve as vital buffers against wave activity is crucial. With rising sea levels, coastal wetlands typically migrate landward. Coastal development plans should incorporate setbacks, wherever possible, to accommodate this natural migration.
Successful interventions, like the restoration of Punnapra beach, by planting Casuarina groves, offers a potential solution for replication. While it may be a recognised anti-erosion strategy, concerns exist regarding its ecological impact. Casuarina, an exotic species, can disrupt native flora and fauna. To address this, native plants, like Ravan’s Moustache (Spinifex littoreus) and beach morning glory (Ipomoea pescaprae), could be explored as ecologically-friendly alternatives.
Training residents in nature-based approaches can also empower communities to manage their own environments, ensuring greater acceptance and maintenance of these solutions.
The dual approach of relocation support and sustainable coastal protection must be balanced to address the needs of both migrating and non-migrating coastal populations. Global examples show that success comes with strong community participation and capacity building, robust planning, support for rootedness and increased social safety nets. Policies should prioritise intersectional and intergenerational justice and the sustainable well-being of coastal residents in addition to reducing their physical exposure to hazards.
Aysha Jennath is a postdoctoral researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in Bengaluru. Her research focuses on the physical and social impacts of climate change.
