he pristine beaches of Puducherry, a major draw among residents and tourists visiting the former French enclave, are now fast disappearing due to rampant erosion.
Large parts of the beaches along the coastline have been gobbled up by the sea since 1994.
The erosion has now started spreading along the northern side of the city’s coastline threatening villages such as Periyamudaliarchavady and Bommayarpalayam in Tamil Nadu.
Probir Banerjee, member, Pondicherry Citizen's Action Network (PCAN), said: “The problem started in 1989 when the Puducherry government constructed two breakwaters. Though a sand bypassing system was provided at the harbour to regularly shift the sand from south to north, this has not been done resulting in erosion along the northern side.”
The sand movement along the coast is said to be one of the highest in the country. The net displacement of sand northwards has been calculated at 0.5 million cubic metres a year.
Beaches on the northern side of the coastline are now starved of sand and have started disappearing. Puducherry was losing 0.5 to 1 km of beach every year, he said.
G. Vasu, a resident of Periyamudaliarchavady and member of Repo, an Auroville community, said the rate of erosion was 20 metres a year. Instead of tackling the origin of the problem, the government started constructing groynes and sea walls, which has only aggravated the erosion towards north.
The rubble-mounted sea walls constructed along the Puducherry coast had transferred the problem to Tamil Nadu, which was now facing massive erosion. Groynes should be considered only after taking into account various factors such as wave strength, angle of the waves and shore structure, he said.
“Sea currents have become tough and people living on the coast are the victims of erosion.
Due to the construction of groynes, fishermen are unable to dock their boats along the shore. However, the authorities seem to be unaware of the destruction of the coastline,” said R. Nagaraj, a fisherman.
