We are killing our beaches. India is going to have a port or a harbor every 30 kms if we don’t do something quick to stop it.

So why should we stop building ports??

Apparently ports obstruct the natural flow of sand and formation of beaches. Monsoon and winds move the sand inwards and create long beaches. Ports obstruct this movement. Therefore sand piles up south of a port whereas it gets severely eroded north of the port, leaving behind ugly black rocks.

People think that it’s a natural phenomenon. Whereas, actually, it is a complete man-made disaster.

All over the world the ports are responsible for dredging the sand from south to north to maintain the beaches. However in India there is no such rule.

Instead of having 5-6 big, modern and profitable ports, India commissions a small new port every few months. These ports mostly incurs losses and therefore can’t afford to dredge the sand. Instead of making it mandatory for the ports to maintain the beaches around them, the Indian govt gives lucrative offers to companies to fill up the empty beaches with rocks and build miles of rock walls along the dead beaches. It is one big land scam with everybody having a vested interest in murdering our beaches.

Beaches make the sea shore more enjoyable. You can walk miles into the sea with the water just waist high. Where there are no beaches, it becomes dangerous to get into the water. Since there is no shore, the sea bed drops drastically and suddenly.

If this goes on in a few more decades we will have only a long necklace of black rock!!!! As is so evident in Pondicherry already. Pondicherry has already lost about 12kms of its beaches.

This, death of our beaches affects everything that is dependent on it. Starting from loss of tourism. Even though we have one of the longest coastlines in the world, we still feel jealous when we watch beaches of Miami. Why?

Sand acts as a filter and does not allow salt and sea water to seep into the mainland. However, due to the loss of the beaches, sea side villages have now realized that their underground water has become saline and their crops are dying. Leading to the death of their livelihood aswell.

Where is Mamata Banerjee??? Does she ‘protect’ the rural people only from the Tatas??


Courtesy:: NDTV 24x7

An old lady lives above our house on the third floor. She is a very old family friend of ours. I call her ajji (grandmother). She knows my mother from her college days. She lives with her son (mama) and daughter-in-law (mami) and 2 grandchildren.

There’s is typical bollywood melodrama household. Ajji does all the chores while mami watches TV. She cooks food for her grandchildren else mami will order pizza or whatever the children demand. Since she insists on veggies and home cooked food and doesn’t appreciate fast food, she becomes the bad one while mami who gives whatever the kids demand is the good one.

She is allotted a seat only on which she sits. She eats when she is served food. Actually not served.. but given permission to eat.

Once a proud wife of a librarian. She is also no less intellectual. But know she is reduced to a maid. Well, not even maid. One is scared of the maid that if you mistreat her that she might abandon you with unwashed dishes etc., and one pays her too.

But my ajji is not paid money or respect or anything. The once-upon-a-time innocent and loving kids follow the path of their mom and ill-treat their granny.

Its so heart breaking to see her sit on the stairs and cry night after night. She covers her mouth with the edge of her saree pallu to muffle the sound. She gets berated for crying loudly. She has forbidden me or my mom to tell anyone about it. She has asked my mom to find her an old age home. She plans to leave everything.

“Why don’t you just die quickly?”

“you can’t just laze around and expect to get fed. You have to work for it!”

These are the kind of stuff one gets hear outside their door.

I have no idea what her son does in the house. How can it be possible that he isn’t aware of her plight?? Her cheeks and eyes are permanently swollen with tears. Can’t he see that? The problem is that most of this nautanki takes place only when mama has gone off for work.

I really can’t understand for what ajji is tolerating all this shit?? I mean she is financially independent. She has her husband’s pension coming in every month plus their savings and the house in which they are all staying. The house in which mama and mami are squatters.

Ajji can easily ask them leave her house. She can also file a domestic violence complaint or do so many things. Why doesn’t she do it????????

This isn’t the case with my ajji alone. She is just one of the 1000s of such ajjis and other weak, helpless and scared people.

I really see no solution as to what can be done in such a situation. No amount of legislation can help unless the victim decides to make use of it.