The crests of high waves lashing the boulders piled up along the wall of Kursura Museum and sea water flowing over the wall into the garden in the morning looked menacing. The incoming high waves crashing against the backwash gave out a fearsome cracking sound.
The beach nourishment taken up in January this year just ahead of the Indian Navy International Fleet Review had resulted in a vast stretch of firm beach adjacent the retaining wall of Kursura Submarine Museum. The high swell in the last few days due to the rough sea and the high tide before and after a new moon coupled with the pre-monsoon climate caused beach erosion, a normal phenomenon, giving enough grist to the rumour mill. Channels went overboard with seasurge and beach scouring reports, with reference to the experience of beach scouring which left the beach road damaged during the New Year of 2015.
“Beach erosion is a natural phenomenon, we have to be alert that it does not cause any damage,” Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation Commissioner Pravin Kumar said.
“We have to look at a permanent solution to protect the shore-side assets like the museum. We had suggested shoring up the beach wall with boulders packed with rubble held back with a sill at the bottom. You could allow plants like beach morning glory to take root on the wall to help curb erosion due to rough sea,” former additional director of Naval Physical Oceonographic Laboratory Rao Tatavarti said. Prof Tatavarti along with professor of Earth Sciences in University of Hyderabad AC Narayana did a detailed analysis of the dynamics of the near shore currents for Visakhapatnam Port Trust as part of the study of the reasons leading to beach scouring in the city.
Deltares – the Dutch-based independent research institute specialising in matters relating to coastal zones chosen by the government to go into beach erosion and suggest permanent measures to stem it – is expected to submit its proposal and the work on it is expected to be taken up by the GVMC after the end of monsoon.
