KOLLAM: The study by the State's Harbour Engineering Department (HED) and the Ocean Engineering Centre (OEC) attached to the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, on evolving ways to protect the Eravipuram-Thani stretch of the Kollam-Varkala coastal road has been completed.

The OEC has finalised a model for the Eravipuram-Thani road and it will be demonstrated to the authorities concerned in Thiruvananthapuram on August 12 by OEC's Professor V. Sunder.

The OEC and the HED conducted an eight-month study at Eravipuram for the purpose.

The study included pre-monsoon and post-monsoon effects in the area, wave and wind pattern, assessment of the depth up to 11 meters and sea profile.

The Eravipuram-Thani stretch of the Kollam-Varkala coastal road is vulnerable to sea erosion, as a result of which the road becomes non motorable.

The OEC says the model will not only protect the road but will create a stabilised beach for the fishing community.

HED chief engineer P.I. Sheik Pareeth said the model was a new venture for coastal protection. He said it could also be an alternative in areas where the sea walls were vulnerable to sea erosion.

The model suggested was economical and had been successfully implemented in three areas in Tamil Nadu, he said.

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