Sea erosion poses threat in U.K. Dt.

By R.S.Habbu

KARWAR, JULY 25. Sea erosion has been posing a constant threat to the Karnataka coast especially during the monsoon. The ravages of the sea have resulted in loss of land every year in Uttara Kannada District. However, a permanent solution to this grave problem remains elusive.

Pavinkurve, a village close to the confluence of the Badagani and the Sharavati with the Arabian Sea near Honnavar, has been threatened by sea erosion this season. The sea wall built by piling heavy granite stones along the coast has been washed away in many places near the village.

The casurina plantation raised on the beach to stabilise the river mouth has been engulfed by the furious sea. Surrounded by the two rivers and the sea, people in Pavinkurve have been spending sleepless nights. The fact that Mallukurve village situated on the right bank of the Sharavati close to its mouth was engulfed by the sea in 1981 is still fresh in their memory.

In 1988, a technical committee appointed by the Government observed that the designs evolved by the Public Works Department to protect open beaches with stones were not applicable to Pavinkurve on account of its topography. One of the solutions the committee suggested was to open a new mouth to the Badagani opposite to the Basavana Durga island to streamline the river. The committee predicted that the mouths of both the Badagani and Sharavati would continue to move northwards towards the Basavana Durga island and Pavinkurve would be washed away in the process.

The committee suggested that there was an urgent need to shift the village and rehabilitate the people of Pavinkurve. So far, the Government has not acted on this. Moreover, the Beach Erosion Board had suggested that hydraulic model studies be conducted before arriving at a permanent design to protect the beaches from erosion. However, no studies have been conducted so far. The Minor Irrigation wing of the PWD was content with building temporary protective walls on the erosion-prone beaches all these years by dumping big boulders. This has led to severe public criticism and also attracted an inquiry by the Government.

The other places affected by sea erosion this year are Devbag, karwar and Honnagadde-Jali villages in Bhatkal taluk.

Devbag is a beautiful island at the mouth of the Kali river near Karwar. Canopied by a casurina grove, the island has been declared as a tourist spot by the Government. A number of cottages have been built here to attract tourists. The Devbag jungle resort has been a part of a package tour programme arranged by the Tourism Department. But, this island has been the victim of nature's fury every year. It was only last year that about 10 acres of land in the island were submerged in the sea following erosion. The situation is not different this year. Many cottages and also a canteen building have been washed away. A large number of casurina trees and electric poles were uprooted.

The temporary jetti built by the Forest department no more exists. Devbag is likely to be wiped out from the district map if no preventive action is taken to stop the erosion. The authorities merely hope that sand eroded from the Devbag beach will get deposited on some other spot creating a new tourist spot.

The Karwar beach is also not free from sea erosion. The toy train, which has been a major attraction on the beach, has stopped functioning following the collapse of a tiny rail bridge built on the beach. All the supporting pillars of the bridge have been washed away due to erosion.

In Honnagadde Jali areas of Bhatkal taluk, the farmers and fishermen face the fury of the sea. Already many coconut trees have been uprooted. The construction of a sea wall is incomplete in many places, the villagers allege. They have urged the Government to construct a permanent sea wall to protect their villages.

The State Government prepared a masterplan in 1982 and 1985 to construct a permanent sea wall along the coast in Karnataka to prevent sea erosion. But it has remained only on paper. One of the suggestions made by the environmentalists is to grow mangroves in the areas prone to sea erosion to provide stability.

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