‘Mangrove Man’ in India fights to salvage sinking shores

By GAURAV SAINI, Press Trust of India

VYPIN ISLAND, India (AP) — Known locally as “Mangrove Man,” T. P. Murukesan has turned to planting mangroves along the shores of areas around Kochi, a city in the southern India state of Kerala, to counter the impacts of rising waters on his home. Sea level rise and severe tidal floods have forced many families in Murukesan’s neighborhood to relocate to higher grounds over the years. The retired fisherman has almost singlehandedly been buffering the impacts of the rising waters on his home and in his community, planting more than 100,000 mangroves. Murukesan’s dedication to the cause has won him praise, awards and the audience of senior politicians but not incentives beyond the immediate benefits to his home.