Photo by Selvaprakash Lakshmanan

Johnson knows hunger well. A fisherman from Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, he is one of the 250 million people living within 50 metres of the Indian coastline. Fish, their source of livelihood, has reduced drastically over the years. “In 15 years, our catch has become one-tenth of what it was. It is not enough to feed our families anymore,” Johnson says. Climate change and industrialisation might be a subject for research or debate for the rest of the world, but rarely do they look at the lives of fishermen who pay its price every day. Rapid industrialisation near the shoreline has triggered massive pollution, which in turn has twisted implications for fisher-folk. Pollution drives the fish farther into the sea. The ongoing construction along the shoreline has also changed the wave patterns, causing rapid erosion. In 30 years, 200 to 1,500 metres of the shoreline has been lost. The sea has claimed two rows of houses lining the beach, and is at the third’s threshold. It has even claimed a huge chunk of the school at Iraimandurai. These images spin the perilous tale of these riders to the sea.