New strategies to counter sea erosion will be implemented along the coastline of Alappuzha as the traditional method of building sea walls with rocks has floundered. Sand-filled bags made of coir geotextiles and geo tubes, which are sediment-filled containers, are to be employed for the purpose.
Geotextile sheets with latex coating on one side will be used for making bags to be filled with sand from the shore and aligned along the coast. The State public sector unit, Foam Mattings (India) Limited, has been asked by the government to manufacture geotextile sheets on a priority basis. Production has already started, A.K.Bhageeradhan, chairman of the company, said.
Varieties of coir
The unit is expecting an order for largescale production of the material. Different varieties of coir could be utilised. “Vaikom, Anchuthengu and Arattupuzha varieties of coir can be used for making geotextiles. An imported machine in the company will be used for covering the bags with latex. More daily wage workers have been employed for expediting the work. The initiative will help both the coir and rubber sectors,” he said.
The coir geotextiles have a lifespan of about three years. It has been proved that the material remains intact for about two years in salty environment, a senior scientist at the Central Coir Research Institute, said.
Experimental basis
Geo tubes, large tubes about 20 metres long and 7 metres wide, made of polypropylene, filled with sediment from the sea, have been set up on a stretch of 100 metres along the coast at Ambalappuzha. “The project, executed on an experimental basis a year ago, has been found successful,” R. Rekha, Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Department, said.
Half the cost
The geo tube project was effective in checking sea erosion, said Shaji, the panchayat member of the ward where the experimental scheme was executed. “The cost will be almost half in comparison to the construction of sea walls using boulders. It will also reduce the environmental hazard of quarrying for rocks to build sea walls,” he said. Shinoymon, another member of the local body, said sea walls made of rocks disintegrated within a few years.
