Sea returning to normalcy at Kothi

Withdrawl of sea to around 50 metres caused panic among locals on Saturday

The sea is slowly returning to normalcy at Kothi in Kozhikode after it had withdrawn to around 50 metres on Saturday afternoon. However, there were no waves and the water appeared as still as a lake even on Sunday evening. The area where the sea had withdrawn appeared marshy and several fishes and mussels were caught from there.

The phenomenon had caused panic on Saturday as it had happened prior to the tsunami in 2004 and during the Ockhi cyclone in 2017. The district administration has assured the public that it is a local phenomenon and that there is no need to panic, especially since no tsunami warning has been issued anywhere in the world.

The sea has been still since the recent partial solar eclipse. The north-east monsoon hit the State on Saturday. Experts have commented that the phenomenon could be the result of the change in wind direction locally. However, there is no change in the sea just 100 metres away from Kothi, either on the northern or southern coast, even though there have been unconfirmed reports that the sea had withdrawn to around 20 metres at the Kozhikode main beach near the Corporation office.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people visited Kothi on Sunday to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon. A few police personnel were deployed at the beach in view of the crowd.