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High-level meet to discuss coastal erosion

— Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Under threat: A view of Gopalpur port.

BERHAMPUR: To chalk out a permanent solution to coastal erosion on Orissa coast especially near Puri and Gopalpur, the State Government has called up a high-level meeting on Oct 29 in Bhubaneswar.

The meeting would be attended by marine experts from throughout the country, project director of the Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management Directorate B.R.Subramaniam, experts from marine science department of Anna University, Chennai, State Secretaries for Departments of Environment, Urban Development, Fisheries and the chairman of the State Pollution Control Board. Members of Orissa State Coastal Zone Management Authority would also attend this meeting, said its member Jagannath Bastia.

Mr Bastia said the meeting would also decide the place where a new project proposed by the World Bank would be taken up on Orissa Coast. “Recently the World Bank has proposed to finance an ‘Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan Development Project’ on Orisas Coast and there are chances that it may be taken up at Gopalpur," said Mr Bastia. An initial report on coastal erosion at Puri and Gopalpur by B.Prabhakar Rao and A.S.Subramaniam of National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, would also come up for discussion at the meeting. The two scientists from NIO had visited Puri and Gopalpur in August at the request of Orissa Beach Protection Council.

The NIO team has blamed indiscriminate destruction of natural sand dunes and illegal sand mining for construction work as major reason behind sea erosion on Puri coast. Sand dunes are natural wave breakers and protectors against sea erosion on any coast.

At Gopalpur the team found most of the man made structures affected by recent coastal erosion constructed over sand dunes prone to erosion at places too close to sea line. These constructions violated the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) norms.

These dunes with constructions on them get eroded during summer months by the wind. Strong winds during low pressures causes long-shore current drifts which lead to major erosion on the narrow stretch of beach at Gopalpur.

The NIO team has suggested construction of submerged breakwaters and casuarinas plantations near Gopalpur coast as there is dearth of natural sedimentation near Gopalpur coast due to lack of water channels meeting the sea near this coast.

The experts were critical towards gross violation of CRZ and environmental norms at these two tourist resorts.

Construction activity is on at inter-tidal zones and two hotels are coming up at the meeting point of Mangala river with the sea at Puri, which speaks of gross violation of environmental norms.

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