Sea surge turns villagers panicky

Fishermen of Mangamaripeta seek immediate construction of safety wall. For the first time ever, the sea made its way towards the village, swallowing up many trees along the coast.

A fisherman's family members looking at the broken walls of their house, which was washed away due to sea surge, at Mangamaripeta village in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. Photo: K.R. Deepak

It was meant to be a usual Wednesday morning for Duda Narisimma, where he would set off into the sea with his fishing boat at the stroke of dawn. But on that fateful morning, his sleep was disrupted by the sharp cries of his family members. As he woke up, with panic he watched the menacing waves leaping forward and gnawing the walls of his house at Mangamaripeta village till a portion of the house collapsed.

“We have never seen this happen earlier. The waves were quite far off from the village and there was a good stretch of beach in front of the village. But when we woke up in the morning, it all seemed like a cruel joke. The beach had vanished and the sea surged into the village,” said a panic-stricken Narisimma, who along with his nine family members watched the waves lashing the walls of their house helplessly.

For the first time ever, the sea made its way towards the village, swallowing up many trees along the coast.

“This is the first time that the sea has come so close to the village. Even during tsunami, we did not face the wrath of the sea to such an extent,” said A. Appala Naidu, a fisherman. Nearly 100 families live in Mangamaripeta village, who fear that one day the seawater might destroy all their homes. “We want a safety wall to be built to protect us from the fury of the sea,” said Narisimma.

Erosion

From the past two to three days, the coast has been witnessing sea surge and beach erosion at various spots, chewing away portions of the beach.

Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, along with MLAs Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar and Vishnu Kumar Raju, visited the severely disturbed spot and assured the villagers of prompt relief action. In view of the sea surge, the Minister advised tourists to stay off the sea water.

Collector N. Yuvaraj and Municipal Commissioner M.V. Satyanarayana also inspected the affected parts of the village. Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Yuvaraj said, “An interim report is expected from the expert team of the Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune, within a month’s time. For this purpose, Rs 25 lakh has been sanctioned as a joint initiative of the VUDA and the GVMC.” Earlier this year, as a result of sea surge, a part of the footpath wall near the Kursura Museum on the beach road had caved in.