IIT-Madras to study erosion at Puri beach

With the aggressive beach erosion near Puri playing havoc among locals, Orissa water resource secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena on Friday informed that a team of experts from IIT-Madras would carry out a tide-impact study in the coastal town in order to find a long-term solution to the issue.

“A master plan is being prepared to contain the erosion there. A team of experts from IIT-Madras will reach Puri in the next two days to find a permanent solution,” Mr Jena told reporters here.

Even though the administration has already started work on creating a barrier to avoid further erosion, the high tide is making the task difficult.

“We are trying to erect a wooden barricade with the help of piling, but the high tide is making the task difficult. We are unable to run the piling instrument,” said Public Works Department assistant engineer Purna Chandra Beuria.

High tides have already eaten up 100 metres of the beach. The very existence of seaside hotels and other business establishments is already at stake.

Over 100 shops operating on the beach have been shifted to other places and tourists have been barred to enter the area. The administration has hoisted a red flag in the area and life guards have been deployed to avoid any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO), a non-governmental environmental watchdog, on Friday wrote letters to chief minister Naveen Patnaik and water resources secretary lamenting the lack of any action that has lead to a crisis situation at Puri in the last few days.

Erosion noticed along the Orissa coastline is seasonal and most of the beaches manage to regain their original shapes over an annual cycle by March/ April. However, some beaches undergo net erosion and at least 50 per cent of the beaches do not regain their original profile. Orissa has a total coastline of 476 km out of which sandy beaches account for 57 per cent of the coastline.

“Puri beach has never faced this kind of erosion, not even two decades before. This is surprising since the beach profile has been quite stable over the last 100-200 years. We feel that the unprecedented erosion at Puri could be correlated prima facie with the opening of a new mouth at Chilika Lake done on September 23, 2000. Coincidentally, beach erosion at Puri was noticed soon after from 2001,” WSO secretary Biswajit Mohanty said.

Mr Mohanty urged the government to call a state level consultation workshop of stakeholders and experts from all over the country to deliberate on the issue to reach an agreement to arrest the erosion.