Are beaches in Visakhapatnam heading towards a disaster?
The Hindu
Apart from beach nourishment, construction of submerged breakwater about 500 metres from the shoreline is needed, say former professors from Andhra University
Recently referring to a question from Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh has said that about 294.89 kms or 28.7% of the coastline in Andhra Pradesh is under varying degrees of erosion.
The Minister was referring to findings and surveys by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) and he had quoted that about 28.81 km of coastline in Visakhapatnam is prone to erosion.
The erosion of beaches in Visakhapatnam is not new. It has been since 1930, ever since two ships were sunk near the Dolphin’s Nose to create a breakwater to stop the process of sedimentation at the mouth of the Visakhapatnam harbour, during the construction phase of Viskhapatnam Port.
This was just the beginning. Erosion aggravated with the construction of two breakwaters during the construction of the Outer Harbour during the 1970s, said K.V.S.R. Prasad, former professor from the Department of Meteorology and Oceanography, Andhra University.
Beaches are dynamic landforms and should be treated as part of the sea and not part of the land. The erosion and deposition of sand are primarily due to the high wave action and high wave energy and the problem arises when man tries to occupy them or meddle with them, he said.
As per the experts, the beaches act as cushion between the high wave action of the sea and the landmass. Continuous nourishment of beaches is a must through the natural process and if disturbed, they will face severe erosion, which may lead to issues to the landmass, as we frequently see the caving-in of roads on the Ramakrishna Beach stretch.
In Visakhapatnam the sand transportation takes place from the south side (Dolphin’s Nose) to the RK Beach and above on the north side for about eight months in a year and from north to south for around four months. ‘
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