Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) has reiterated that it will study claims about the formation of land close to the Kochi shipping channel, about 20 km off the coast.
University sources said on Monday that the study would be launched after the monsoon season with the help of the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) in Chennai. The feasibility of the study was discussed at a recent meeting of the university officials and it was decided that it could be undertaken after the rains.
There have been reports of fresh land formation close to the shipping channel but the Cochin Port Trust has denied the claims. Port Trust sources had earlier said that ships moved through the area and the vessels had no problems in sailing the waters.
Fishers frequenting the area have said that material dredged from the shipping channel to maintain the required depth is deposited about 20 km from the coast. Traditional fishers said the dumping of the material in the sea had caused problems in their daily fishing activities.
In a recent report, Coastal Area Development Agency for Liberation (CADAL), an agency working to help people in coastal villages like Chellanam, had said that 18 to 21 million cubic metres of material was dredged from the shipping channel annually. The material was deposited about 20 km west of the shipping channel, it said.
The agency has demanded that the dredged material should be deposited close to the coast to help beach nourishment and gradually prevent sea erosion.
