Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (MS)
Bengaluru, Sep 24: The state government is facing severe opposition to build rock retainer wall to prevent sea erosion in coastal districts. Experts of Karnataka and Kerala have objected this plan.
Due to the rock walls built at Someshwar beach and other places, sea erosion has increased and the height of the waves has also increased. In addition, building of stone wall has detrimental effect on fishermen according to the officials of Kerala and Karnataka fisheries department. They have written a letter to Indian Ports Authority in this regard. Officials of the state fisheries department and experts have also expressed similar concern.
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Building rock walls in sea instead of land is a futile exercise. The rock wall that is built at Maravanthe between Kundapur-Bhatkal is a good one. Similar rock retainer walls need to be built at other places where there is concern of sea erosion according to the experts. PWD and PIA have jointly spent Rs five crore to build 400 meter long rock wall construction in this fiscal.
The experts of both Kerala and Karnataka said, “Walls are built on beaches at Karwar, Udupi and Mangaluru. Between 2011 and 2022 PIA has spent Rs 271.78 crore for this scheme. Rock walls are not a solution to sea erosion at all. It is a foolish plan. The velocity of waves increases sea erosion instead. Mineral percentage and heat is getting changed on the beaches due to the interference with nature by human beings.”
M D Subhash Chandran, renowned fishing and coastal expert says, “Instead of maintaining coastal regulatory zones and buffer zones, the governments are bowing to the pressure of public and tourism department and allowing construction in non-developmental zones.”
One official said that so far no one has died due to sea erosion. However, property is damaged. Instead of making sure that the silt flows into the sea from rivers, the government is opting for building rock walls.
Coastal and ocean expert V N Nayak said that developing cheap and permanent solutions like mangroves and pandan are the best options to prevent sea erosion.