Alex Antony from Thiruvananthapuram is one among the 26-member Indian contingent selected for the Tokyo Olympics 2021. He will represent India in the mixed 4x400m relay.
Alex is first from his village Pulluvila to get into the sports field and succeed in it. Currently, he is in Patiala where he is attending the Olympics camp at the National Institute of Sports with other athletes.
His native village Pulluvila is between Kovalam and Poovar in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala which is seven kilometres away from the Vizhinjam Port. Alex’s success has brought the environmental crisis of his native village to the forefront.
“A lot has changed for my family and me over time and I am so glad that the hard work has paid off,” Alex told The Quint, recalling his childhood days when he used to go to the sea with his father.
Due to climate change, the sands of Pulluvila’s beaches have been depleting for years. Sedimentation has affected the nature of the sea, impacting the traditional fishing practices of the village which earns its livelihood from fishing.
“The consequence of accretion is that it creates waterlogged areas. Water pools are formed between sandbanks and land, preventing fishermen from parking their boats here. Living here is quite difficult as many times we have noticed seawater coming out the toilet bowls as the sanitation is all messed up,” Joseph Vijayan, an expert on coastal communities in Thiruvananthapuram told The Quint.
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Published 14 July 2021, 10:06 IST