Long-term measures are needed to check erosion of the city’s beautiful and popular beaches, and the issue will be taken to the notice of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao has said.
The issue is expected to be given priority during Friday’s Cabinet meeting and also when Mr. Naidu visits the city to participate in the foundation laying ceremony of IIM on January 5.
Beach erosion has occurred on a major scale after a gap of 10 months.
On Thursday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao visited the stretch of Beach Road between Police Officers Mess and Rajiv Smruti Bhavan, which eroded due to strong waves being experienced since Wednesday morning.
Collector N. Yuvaraj, VPT Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu, Joint Collector and GVMC Commissioner in-charge Pravin Kumar, Commissioner of Police Atul Singh, and GVMC Chief Engineer Jayarami Reddy were present.
The parapet wall and footpath caved in with huge waves hitting the road margin continuously.
Huge boulders were being dumped along the stretch of the road that suffered severe erosion. The Minister said that the phenomenon was being experienced due to changes in the weather. Similar damage was observed at Yarada, Bheeminipatnam, and Uppada near Kakinada.
“The Visakhapatnam beach attracts a huge number of tourists. People should not panic. We are planning permanent measures to control erosion,” the Minister said.
The National Institute of Ocean Technology and the Central Water and Power Research Station of Pune were expected to submit their report in six months.
The institutions, in their preliminary report, suggested that 4.5 lakh tonnes of sand should be dumped along the beaches.
The VPT agreed to nourish the beach up to an extent of 2.5 lakh tonnes of sand by spending Rs. 9 crore. This would be completed in 30 days.
Laying geo tubes or adopting other methods would also be discussed with experts.
