Puri: The Integrated Coastal Zone Management Authority (ICZMA) would construct two-guard walls at Mangala river confluence and a guard wall along the Ramchandi temple to Chandrabhaga beach to check soil erosion and sea ingression.
ICZMA Additional Director Debasis Rai said the guard walls would be constructed at a cost of around Rs 16 crore to check large scale soil erosion which was witnessed in 2006-07.
Rai said while Rs 10.68 crore would be spent in construction of two guard walls at Mangala river confluence, Rs 5.9 crore would be spent on construction of a guard wall along the Ramchandi temple to Chandrabhaga beach.
He said the guard walls would also protect ‘Samuka’ a mega international tourism project under development and would also help protect a number of villages situated close to coastline and the Puri-Konark marine drive road from being washed away in sea tidal waves.
In 2006-07 huge tidal waves lashed the landmass and ingressed towards the city. The extended portion of the marine drive road was washed out completely.
Earlier, following large scale soil erosion along the Puri coast, scientists of Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had inspected the sites and recommended for construction of guard wall.
(UNI)
