With controversy raging over the dumping of quarried material from Rushikonda along the beach road, experts say there is nothing wrong in doing so as acts as a barrier for soil erosion.
Ever since the material is being dumped, many have raised concerns that the red mud filled with boulders and stones will interact with the beach sand and pollute its geomorphology.
“From a distance, it may look so, but actually the material is being dumped behind the dune area of the beach. If it is dumped on the front side of the dunes, then there is a possibility of the material mixing with the sand,” said D. Rajasekhar Reddy, convener of INTACH, who had earlier worked as geological scientist for the GSI and as professor in the Department of Geology, Andhra University.
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“All beaches are divided into regions such as foreshore that falls under low tide belt, the berm or the high tide region, the back shore and the dune area. Any material dumped behind the dune area is safe, and if pitched up, it can act as a safeguard for soil erosion and also as protective barrier during storm surge,” Prof. Reddy said.
When the authorities concerned were asked why the material was being dumped, they said it was being dumped as a filling material for the proposed six-lane beach road to Bhogapuram.
However, environmentalists are sceptical, and have questioned the scientific definition of a beach.
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“Our beach stretches are very narrow, and the reach of the water even during low tide is barely a few metres from the road at some spots. In such a case, the definition should be looked differently,” said Sohan Hattangadi, an environmentalist.