Q173Comprehension2 Marks7 Aug 2022
Passage
Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions:
Threats to Shanghumugham Beach
On weekends, there is hardly any elbow room on Shanghumugham Beach in Kerala's capital, Thiruvananthapuram. The smell of roasted corn hangs in the air, vendors mill around the walkway that leads to the beach, families lounge around a 35m-long sculpture of a reclining naked woman — 'Jalakanyaka' by Kanayi Kunhiraman — that seems to strain against Kerala's conservative ethos yet has come to be one of the most recognised landmarks in the city. It is a familiar beach scene. The only problem is — there isn't much beach left.
'Every year, I feel the sea is drawing closer,' says Indu, a 44-year-old Thiruvananthapuram resident who has been coming to Shanghumugham since her childhood. 'The beach is so much smaller than it used to be. We would come here to get away from the congestion in the city, and now look how congested the beach has become.' She points to a row of fishing boats lined up along a part of the shore usually reserved for people. The boats were moved after vast tracts of the Shanghumugham shoreline were eroded following Cyclone Ockhi, which hit the Kerala coast in December 2017. A nearby road, which runs parallel to the beach, bears testimony to Ockhi's fury — rope and traffic cones cordon off the traffic from long sections of the road that were washed away by the waves.
Even now, the waves are visibly rough — but they do not deter visitors. Beach-goers play a game of racing to the shore before the water reaches their ankles, laughing aloud when the wave beats them to it. Others try to venture into the water, holding hands with their friends but lose balance when the wave pulls back into the sea. The whistles of lifeguards pierce the air, instructing the crowds to move away from the water. Families with toddlers who are turned away from the water...
— Bibin Najm, The Hindu Business Line.
"There is hardly any elbow room..." What does this mean?