Workmen (there have been no women on this worksite that I have seen) carry HUGE rocks on their heads, cement is mixed by hand and the working attire is lungi (the simple piece of cloth that Kerala men wear on their lower half - ladies can wear it too), usually a bare chest or workworn shirt and flip flops. Safety be damned!
Work has pretty much stopped now (May 31st) which is a relief as I was very worried that someone would be killed by a pile of dirt collapsing on top of them as they laboured thigh deep in dirty water. The monsoon-ruffled sea is now rushing right up to the sea side of the 8-foot high hillocks of soil and must be destabilizing them. A few more days and I expect all the workers will be gone and the beach will look something like its old self again.
Here is an overall view of Lighthouse Beach (the most southernly beach). The scale is deceiving because there is actually about an 8 foot gap between those hillocks of dirt and the existing path - in this gap is where the workers are placing 3-foot square cages of chicken wire filled with soccer-ball sized chunks of rock. Then cement and smaller stones and finally the originally removed sand are placed on top.
Here's a closer view - the building with the orange and yellow fence in front is the German Bakery - definitely the "trendiest" eating establishment on the beach.
Looking towards the lighthouse end of the beach.
This part is nearly finished. If you were to go through the doorway in the upper right hand corner of the picture and up the hill you'd be at the lighthouse.
Looking away from the lighthouse - the JCB is in front of the German Bakery.
This has been a mammoth task from a stone mason's point of view.
The man at the top of the picture is preparing cement by hand - I did not see a cement mixer being used at all on this project.
