Alapad village is a peaceful village located on the coast of Kerala, full of colonies of fisherman who turned out to be heroes during the Kerala floods. But the heroes are in despair now and the reason is not nature's fury this time, it's the human's greed.
The 2004 tsunami left huge uranium-rich black sand deposits on the coast of Alapad village, which attracted everyone. Now the village, which had an area of about 89.5 square kilometers, is reduced to 8 square kilometre and it is continuously being eaten by the Arabian sea inch by inch.
The reason is not illegal mining but unregulated mining in the area, government has given permission to the companies like Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IRE) to mine in this area till 2020.
Alapad isn't the only village suffering from this, in Chavara village, residents have to walk kilometres just to get drinking water as the mining companies are using open wells and other water sources as dumping ground for industrial waste. Ponmana village which once had a population of 1500 has now reduced to just three families.
The villagers of Alappad have been on a hunger strike for more than two weeks now in an attempt to save their homes. With increase in protest the hashtag #SaveAlappad and #StopMining became viral on social media. However the government decided not to go against the mining companies.
"Being a public sector undertaking, IRE must do the mining in a responsible manner. They should engage in mining by protecting the shore. This is what the people want and the government stands by the people." said the Kerala Minister for Industries right after he said that government does not plan to stop mining in Alapad.
But you can do your bit, join the protest use #SaveAlappad and #StopMining
What do you think about this move by the government? Share your opinion in comments