Tsunami affected communities in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are facing a second wave of displacement due to aggressive land acquisitions for tourism developments around the southern Indian coast.
The states have been earmarked by the Indian government as major emerging tourism destinations and investment is being actively promoted. Substantial funds are being channelled into tourism departments for coastal tourism projects. Many of these developments are placing tsunami survivors – often still desperately in need of re-housing and livelihood support – under renewed threat of displacement.
In Sri Lanka, fishing communities that have lived by the sea for time immemorial have now been permanently relocated to houses several kilometres inland, ostensibly to protect them from another tsunami. They cannot afford the daily return journey to the coast and have nowhere to store their boats and nets. Many have had to abandon fishing, but have no other way to earn a living, making them dependent on government handouts and forcing them into poverty.
Meanwhile, tourism developments along the southern coast have flourished and, while the continuing conflict in the east has quietened the government’s earlier outspoken drive to develop tourism and promote investment, signs that this is still on the cards are there. A new international airport is planned, linked to the east and south coasts by a recently upgraded road, works paid for by EU tsunami funds. Coastal beautification projects – further indications that the government is preparing the grounds for tourism – have also been facilitated by tsunami funds, despite the fact that many survivors continue to languish in temporary camps. In Batticaloa in the east, a picturesque promenade complete with green benches and wooden gazebos now encircles the lighthouse. Local fishermen are forced to store their nets in the corrosive sea water and their boats amongst the few coconut palms on either side of the development. A plaque proudly declares the development “a gift from the American people”.
These findings come following Tourism Concern’s recent visit to India and Sri Lanka, where we have partnered with grassroots civil society organisations in order to raise awareness of the threats posed by tourism developments to tsunami-affected communities. The programme, which began six months ago, will build the capacity of coastal communities to challenge such developments, which are threatening to consume their land and undermine livelihoods.
