Endangered fishing kuppams of Chennai
Something sad is happening in Chennai.
An entire neighborhood has been demolished. This is an area approximately as big as 12 football fields. Thousands of people lived here. Some residents have been promised they could reside in flats in the new development, two years from now.
The neighbourhood was/is Ayodhyakuppam (also known as Ayodhyanagar). This is directly behind the Slum Clearance Board building on Marina Beach Road, near Vivekananda House, beside the road that becomes Peter’s Road.
As has been the case for many years, approximately 30 fishing boats are at the water’s edge at the centre of Marina Beach (opposite Ayodhyakuppam). The men who operate these boats lived in Ayodhiakuppam.
Where do they live now?
Just as Ayodhyakuppam is going, so also will go Nochchikuppam, Nochchinagar, Domikuppam, and Srinivasapuram – all the sea-fishing “hamlets”, from the University of Madras (Chepauk campus), southwards to the Adyar Estuary.
Already, much of Nochchikuppam is demolished, and four new apartment buildings have arisen in the area.
This is a matter that would establish Chennai’s face and soul in the future. Would the “sea-fishing village” aspect of Chennai be allowed to remain in any way?
Does the Government have a responsibility to assist a folk community – in this case,
sea-fishing people – to continue to exist? If ‘yes’, how could this be done? Is it being done?
Back in 2007, a series of workshops were held regarding a possible ‘Living Museum’ about the heritage of sea-fishing and sea-travel in the Ayodhyakuppam, Nochchikuppam, or Nochchinagar areas. (A ‘Living Museum’ is a museum in which the objects on display are still in everyday use, and the guides in the museum include members of the community.)
These workshops were attended by members of Chennai’s sea-fishing communities, members of the World Storytelling Institute, and others, and were hosted by Department of Geography, University of Madras.
A set of recommendations that came out of these workshops is at www.storytellinginstitute.org/3.pdf
As director of the World Storytelling Institute, I have worked alongside numerous community members on this project, and I would be happy to share these contacts with Chennai print and media people.
Dr. Eric Miller
Director, World Storytelling Institute
www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com
Disfiguring walls
Chennai is getting increasingly disfigured with wall posters of every hue and dimension splashed all over the city. Is there no way the Hon’ble courts can suo moto ban them as they did hoardings? With municipal inaction, the cinema and Chennai’s mad mad Carnatic music-crazy guys are having a swell time leaving no wall vacant. I thought Prime Minister Modi’s clean India included everything, not merely the litter on the roads and streets.
T. Santhanam
tyagasanth@gmail.com
Dug wells best
The practice of builders in Chennai is to fill up any existing traditional dug well at a site with the debris from the demolition of the existing building and then dig deep borewells. From my experience over two decades in providing water sources (MM, December 1st) in the residential complexes built by the company of which I was a part, I can assert that it is indeed the traditional dug well sustained by RWH that will give water security for the following reasons:
1. The soil in Chennai in most parts is favourable for provision of dug wells. I have either retained an existing well or provided a fresh one in over 150 residential complexes all over Chennai and these are serving the residents quite well.
2. Dug wells generally yield good quality water.
3. It can be easily charged with terrace rainwater by simply connecting all the down-take pipes to the well directly (in existing buildings also). This is not only economical but also very efficient and requires little maintenance.
4. The terrace should be swept clean, once in May and again in September. If any food is served on the terrace, the spillage should be immediately swept up so that it does not end up in the well.
5. The only long-term maintenance needed is desilting the well occasionally.
6. The water quality is improved by the rainwater.
7. If the water is potable, it can be boiled, cooled, filtered through cloth and consumed safely.
8. The area of the open spaces around the buildings is often much more than the terrace area. The rainwater falling there flows towards the gate because of the paving. This can be easily collected and put into the soil by providing a shallow trench between the gate columns and diverting it to another well or a pit reaching upto a favourable soil layer. This water will travel across the soil to reach the source well and in the process get fully cleaned by the soil.
9. The pumping cost will be lower than what is needed for a borewell.
The government will do well to actively encourage the retention of existing wells and urge provision of new wells. Incidentally, as the well need not be kept open, I have retained several existing wells in the stilts parking area.
Indukanth Ragade
(isragade@yahoo.com)
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