Efforts to lay geotextile bags along some of the most vulnerable coastal stretches of Chellanam panchayat suffered a setback on Saturday night as rough sea conditions resulted in the dredger, which was to be engaged in sand-filling, breaking away from its moorings and washing up close to the shore.
The sea conditions have been rough for a couple of days and it was decided that the dredger engaged by the contracting company would be brought closer to the shore. But the weather conditions deteriorated on Saturday night, resulting in the dredger breaking loose. Earlier efforts to hold it had failed.
An official of the Irrigation Department said the incident occurred on Saturday night even as geotextile bags were being stacked to prevent sea erosion in places such as Velankanni, Bazaar, Vachakkal and Companyppadi. The geotextile tube works are being overseen by the Irrigation Department.
The incident has once again affected the work to protect the coast of Chellanam from sea erosion. The present work was tendered for laying geotextile tubes along 1.10 km of the coast at a cost of ₹7.5 crore with an additional 20%, considering the delay due to various reasons including the lockdown.
The demand for laying geotextile tubes or erecting bulwarks against coastal erosion has been a long standing one. The demand became louder after Cyclone Ockhi hit the shores of Chellanam in December 2017. The government had promised to complete the works to assuage the fears of the coastal village.
