Ports department proposes to build five groynes at Uchhila-Batpady to arrest sea erosion

Ports and Inland Water Transport Department proposes groynes for beach protection in Ullal taluk to combat sea erosion.

With offshore reefs and inshore berms failing to protect the Uchhila-Batpady beachfront from massive sea erosion in Ullal taluk, off Mangaluru, the Ports and Inland Water Transport Department has now proposed to build the time-tested groynes for beach protection and nourishment.

Sources in the department told The Hindu that two offshore reefs ​each built off Ullal and Uchhila during 2021-2022 were of little use to prevent sea erosion in the region. Post-2022 the link road to Batpady end-point at Kerala border itself was completely washed away thereby cutting off connectivity to several households in the locality.

The department, through the Dakshina Kannada district administration, has now submitted a proposal to the government to construct five groynes between Uchhila and Batpady. It also has proposed to restore the damaged link road, all at an estimated cost of ₹70 crore under the National Disaster Mitigation Scheme (NDMS), sources said.

Each groyne would be about 60 m long built straight into the Arabian Sea to absorb impact of the waves and help beach nourishment. Upon approval by the government, the department would commence the work soon after the Monsoon, sources added.

Along with offshore reefs, the department had also built inshore berms along the Ullal-Someshwara-Uchhila beachfront under the sustainable coastal protection and management investment project funded by the Asian Development Bank. About ₹130 crore was spent on the project. However, much of the project work failed to prevent sea erosion along the stretch, except about five groynes constructed at Uchhila. The beachfront at Uchhila therefore has remained almost intact.

The department had constructed 24 groynes, 14 straight and 10 ‘T’ shaped along the 2.5 km Maravanthe-Trasi beachferont abutting Panvel-Kochi National Highway 66. The highway, passing in between the Arabian Sea and the Souparnika, was under severe threat of erosion.

The project that started in 2018 was completed in about two years at an estimated cost of ₹86 crore. Since then, the groynes have not only protected the beachfront and the highway from sea erosion, but also nourished the beach to a considerable extent.