post news network
Puri, August 14: Amid renewed concerns about the surging sea waves eating into the beach in the holy town, a two-member team of technical experts from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras Sunday visited the coast and examined the impact of high tides on the beach.
IIT-Madras’s marine science department project engineers Ram Kumar and Kadir Rawan visited the fragile beach and the Mangala River estuary to ascertain causes for the coastal erosion. “High tides during low pressure in August usually erode the coastline of Orissa. However, excess beach erosion at Swargadwar is a matter of concern,” said Kumar.
“Tidal ingress has eroded at least 40 ft beach at Swargadwar. But we do not think the change in the Mangala River’s course has aggravated this erosion,” added Kumar. The team will submit its final report on the coastal erosion to the head of marine science department of IIT-Madras in a couple of days.
Laying geo-synthetic tube along the coast can check erosion, said Kumar. “But we have to study the suitability of this technique for the beach in Puri. We will submit our report to our departmental head,” he added.
During the field examination, the IIT team and officials of the state irrigation department took photographs and made video clips of coastal erosion at Swargadwar.
High tides had started eroding Swargadwar beach August 5 while the Mangala, a distributary of the Bhargabi, had changed its course two days later. The irrigation department, meanwhile, has engaged two excavators to dredge the Mangala estuary.
In a related development, noted geologist Manmohan Mohanty Sunday examined the beach erosion at Swargadwar and blamed tectonic movements at the bottom of the sea for the high tides. “The Orissa coast is highly tremor-prone. Low intensity tremors at the bottom of the sea can cause high tides,” he said.
Mohanty, however, expressed reservations over the proposal to lay geo synthetic tube in the city coast. “Creation of sand dunes through beach nourishment can check erosion of the coast in Puri,” he said.
