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State moves to check beach erosion

— Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

MARCH OF THE SEA: A scene on the beach road in Puri that has suffered erosion.

BERHAMPUR: Tidal waves of the sea have again started to create havoc in the Orissa coast during the monsoons.

Large sea waves have washed away portions of the picturesque Puri-Konark marine drive. Road and other constructions on the Puri beach are also under the threat of sea waves. Ramayapatna, a coastal village in Ganjam district is under the threat of submergence as the rising sea waves have started to touch the periphery of the village. Erosion by sea waves has led to opening of a new channel that connects the lagoon of Chilka lake with the sea. It has started to threaten the existence of four villages in Puri district. The sea level is on the rise near the coastal villages of Satabhaya area of Kendrapara district. And all this has happened within a week.

The rise in sea erosion was a major point of discussion during the Flood Control Board meeting held in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. At the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, it was decided to take immediate steps in Puri to save the tourist destination. It was decided to build a guard wall on the Puri beach from Sterling resort of Hans Coco Palm at a cost of Rs. 7 crores.

The work will start from November this year and will be completed in three months. But other places facing sea erosion still await action of the State government. It may be noted that last year the beach at Gopalpur faced drastic erosion.

Experts say recent rise in sea erosion is due to continuous atmospheric depressions over the Bay of Bengal. “The number of depressions over sea is also on the rise,” say R.C. Panigrahy, head of the Department of Marine Science of Berhampur University.

According to him, the increase in depressions during the monsoons over Bay of Bengal is directly related to rise in the temperature of sea surface. It is an impact of global warming. Abnormal behaviour of sea surface temperature has started to affect the atmospheric climate over the Bay of Bengal. The increased number of continuous depressions over the Bay of Bengal has also led to increase in the height and velocity of the sea waves, which causes more erosion on the sea coast, says Mr. Panigrahy.

Orissa coast is also erosion prone as it is mostly sandy having less vegetation and rock structures. Till now no major preventive measures have been taken to check erosive action of the sea on Orissa coast. Destruction of mangrove forests and other vegetation on the coast has added to the problem. “There is a need for development of a specific scientific plan to protect the Orissa coast which has not been done yet,” says Mr. Panigrahy.

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