Kumbalanghi – a hitherto little-know island located off Kochi, has been resonating with its ethnic charm across continents ever since it was declared India’s first model-tourism village in 2003.
But life has been much the same for people like Jacob, now aged over 70 years, who has for the past 50 years been installing Chinese fishing nets in the backwaters around the island, using steel poles tied together atop a country boat.
He saw the number of these unique cantilevered nets that abound in Kochi, increase from a mere four in Kumbalanghi to over 100, during these 50 years.
Seated beside the backwaters beneath Kumbalanghi bridge where his boat was berthed, with none but old Malayalam movie songs from his cell phone giving him company, he narrated how indiscriminate dumping of waste during the recent past has taken a heavy toll on the backwaters and the fortunes of fishers. “The backwater here has thus become very shallow and filled with slush, making it tough for fishers…
