Ronald Anil Fernandes/ Deccan Herald
 
Mangalore, Jul 25: A rough sea spells havoc in coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kasargod. Trees are uprooted, houses collapse and people are left homeless with nowhere to run to and those whose dwellings are intact live in fear because they know for sure that their calm won’t last long, for, the sea would roar and destroy them forever.

Those in power, including the Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, visited these affected areas and promised the displaced that houses would be constructed for them and that a permanent sea wall would be built. But none of these promises have been met till date. Some temporary work has been taken up to prevent sea erosion. But this hasn’t helped much.

However, a month later, when the sea stops roaring, everything will return to normalcy and life will go until the next monsoon arrives. Then, the sea will turn rough again, destroying more houses, displacing more people and injuring and the wrecking more lives. The authorities will wash their hands off them again.

Sea erosion has become an annual phenomenon in the coastal districts. Though the authorities concerned submitted a detailed proposal for a loan of Rs 135.95 crore from the Central government to undertake the construction of a permanent seawall in three districts (DK, Udupi and Karwar) way back in 2002, nothing has been done.

Meanwhile, experts at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) who studied the problem in the Ullal region (the worst affected) suggested that sea erosion be dealt with differently in Ullal (due to construction of break water in Panambur) unlike in other regions along the coast. In fact, the NITK experts have suggested ëT Groynesí seawall for Ullal which has been developed by Pune-based Central Water Power Research Station (CWPRS) with the help and advice of experts at NITK. Based on the technical support provided by CWPRS and NITK, the Port division sent a fresh proposal for Rs 11.6 crore only for Ullal in 2004.

However, a letter sent to State PWD Secretary from the Central Water Commission, Coastal Erosion Directorate, on June 23, 2006, states that the proposal for Rs 135.95 crore has been considered for inclusion in the National Coastal Protection Project (NCPP). “But, the Union Ministry of Water Resources has decided to formulate NCPP covering all the maritime states/union territories, only after receipt of the proposals from all states/union territories.”

Nobody knows when the Central funds will be released. So, the answers to the queries about the solutions to sea erosion are just as elusive.

When contacted, Port Division Executive Engineer B Gopal Nayak said that they have identified several areas of sea erosion including: Kotepura, Kodi, Mogaveerapatna and Mukkacchheri (near Ullal in Mangalore); Hosabettu, Mithrapatna, Bawa Fisheries and Sasihithlu (near Suratkal); Kodi Bengre, Padukone, Kemmannu Hoodi, Thonse, Hejamadi Kodi and Vadabandeshwara (in Udupi); and Marawanthe, Kundapur Kodi, Manoor and Gujjadi (in Kundapur).

“The department has suggested construction of a permanent seawall along the 19.48 kms in Udupi at a cost of Rs 28.46 crore and 8.21 kms in Dakshina Kannada at a cost of Rs 10.17 crore,” he said.

While Dakshina Kannada has a coastline of 40 kms, Udupi has 98 kms and Karwar has 162 kms. These apart, major rivers including Nethravati, Gurupur, Swarna, Chakra, Varahi along with several rivulets which join the rivers and Arabian Sea have created estuaries that have aggravated the problem.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy who rushed to Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in a volvo bus after the rough sea washed away several houses and claimed nine lives in the districts, vowed to construct a permanent seawall at the earliest. Deputy Chief Minister too visited the district after a few days and assured them the same.

Those affected, however, refuse to settle down to empty promises. They will believe, they say, only when something concrete has been done. “We will believe, what the ministers say, only after we see the seawall built.”

By the time, this article is published, many more houses would have been washed out because of sea erosion. Will anybody do anything about it before it’s too late? Anybody listening?