The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : High-level meeting to be held to save the beach on August 14

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Sunday, Aug 12, 2007
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High-level meeting to be held to save the beach on August 14

Staff Reporter

BERHAMPUR: The State Government plans to hold a high level meeting along with field survey at Gopalpur on August 14 to plan out the immediate steps to check continuous destruction of property by catabolic sea waves at this beach resort.

The meeting will comprise of officials from the State Forest and Environment Department, Ganjam district administration, members of the Beach Protection Council of Orissa (BPCO), Orissa State Coastal Zone Management Authority. The team will visit the areas of Gopalpur where constructions were eroded by the sea waves in recent past to

assess the damages and suggest immediate measures to check them.

Meanwhile, the BPCO has already written to the State Government to take immediate steps to remove all illegal constructions within the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) limits at Gopalpur. All constructions damaged by the catabolic sea waves at Gopalpur during recent months were on the sea ward side of the road by the coast within 20 to 30 meters from the coast.

It is alleged that all these constructions were illegal, violating the CRZ norms. It may be noted

that Gopalpur falls under CRZ II zone under the CRZ Act. The Central Government had also taken the erosion of the beach at Gopalpur coast seriously. At the request of the BPCO, the Ministry of Earth Sciences had decided to take up a project of shore line management at Gopalpur to study the reasons behind the erosion. According to a letter sent by B.R.Subramanian, the project director of Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management (ICMAM) to the

President of BPCO, Jagannath Bastia; this project will continue for three years.

According to Mr Bastia under the project extensive data on the changing shore line near Gopalpur would be collected for two years. After analysing of the collected data, the reason behind the erosion process at the beach would be assessed and remedial measures would be suggested.

Meanwhile, erosion of the beach continues in other parts of the coast as well. Thirty huts of fishermen at Podampeta villagem, which is also under threat of sea waves since two months was washed away by sea on Friday.

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