The construction of groyne fields (pulimuttu) at Ambalappuzha in Alappuzha district of Kerala is making good progress.
Thirty breakwaters with a total length of 5.4 km are being built from Komana to Punnapra in the district at a cost of ₹54 crore sanctioned under the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). The project also includes the construction of a 345-metre sea wall.
Haran Babu, deputy general manager, Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation, said the construction of six breakwaters had been completed. "The groyne fields will reduce the energy of waves reaching the shoreline. It will prevent coastal erosion and help in sand formation," said Mr. Babu.
The breakwaters are constructed using tetrapods of two and five tonnes. After laying granite stones of different sizes, tetrapods are placed above them. Groynes 100 metres apart are constructed without hampering the flow of floodwaters into the sea through existing channels. Each groyne has a length of 40 metres from shore into the sea and 20 metres width.
760 families to benefit
The construction of the breakwaters will benefit 760 families directly and indirectly in Punnapra South, Ambalappuzha North and Ambalappuzha South grama panchayats in the Ambalappuzha Assembly constituency.
Tetrapods are used as an alternative for granite boulders, which were widely used for constructing breakwaters. However, an acute shortage of granite in the State forced the authorities to look for alternatives. Tetrapods minimise the use of granite in the construction of breakwaters.
The State government last year decided to set up 114 breakwaters at five places off the Alappuzha coast at a cost of ₹184 crore under the KIIFB after sea erosion became severe in coastal areas of the Alappuzha district.
Apart from Ambalappuzha, breakwaters are built in the Haripad and Alappuzha Assembly constituencies. The structures will directly benefit 625 families and indirectly between 1,500 and 2,000 families.
