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New opening in Chilika posed no danger to villagers: experts

BERHAMPUR: The marine science experts say the new opening caused due to tidal erosion in the Chilika Lake would pose no danger to the villages of Gabakund, Raipur, Mirzapur and Padmapur near it.

The erosive action of the sea had opened up this new opening on August 1 at distance of one-and-half kilometres from the Sipakuda confluence point of the lagon with the sea. It had panicked the inhabitants of these four villages. The new mouth is barely a km from Sipakuda confluence point which was opened a few years ago. The villagers felt two openings near their village would lead to more erosion and devastation of their villages.

The Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) had sent a team of experts to study the cause behind the recent opening of new of the lake and its possible impact on the coastal villages near the new opening. Professor P.K.Mohanty of Marine Science Department of Berhampur University was part of this team of experts.

Prof. Mohanty said as per their recent studies there is no chance of dangers of sea erosion at Gabakunda or other villages. The new mouth of the lake connecting it with the sea is at a distance of 1.6 kilometers from Gabakunda village. “The tidal level fluctuation is too low near Gabakunda coast now and Chilika Development Authority (CDA) has already constructed a guard wall near the Gabakunda village,” said Prof. Mohanty. But the expert team has suggested that the height of the guard wall near the village should be enhanced. He said the high wave activity in the sea since July 29 coincided with the high tide related to new moon on August 1 to cause the large scale tidal erosion that opened up the new mouth. Usually average height of the sea waves is around three meters but on Aug. 1 the height of the waves reached more than five meters. These waves washed away the sand spit near the Gabakunda village to create the new opening.

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