How do environmental and climatic changes alter occupations, and in turn reshape private and communal life in the fishing settlement, in Uppada?

 

The drawing explores the fishing settlement through the presence of boundaries that are not formally built, but remain spatially operative. These boundaries are produced through everyday elements like handpumps, unused fishing nets, patches of vegetation, and objects in daily use; each marks zones of access, movement, and control without the need for permanent enclosure. Alongside these, certain houses are defined by rigid fences, introduced in response to specific needs of privacy, security, or ownership. The coexistence of these different boundary types is closely tied to livelihood patterns and the temporal routines they generate. 

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As fishing yields have declined due to environmental changes, the settlement has undergone a visible occupational shift. Many fishermen have moved into alternative forms of labour such as auto driving and construction work. With the growth of aquaculture industries, women’s work has also shifted, from fish vending within the settlement to shift-based labour in aqua-processing units, where prawns are segregated in Sandhya Aqua. 

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Through these transformations, the drawing traces how changing economies reorganize space. Invisible boundaries persist, adapt, or dissolve, while fixed enclosures appear in select conditions.  The drawing narrates the stories of families, relationships, livelihoods, economies, and how they shape the private and communal life of the settlement.