Visakhapatnam: RK beach gets back its expanse, pride
With the beach getting back its original form, the place is brimming over with visitors.
Visakhapatnam: The RK Beach area, which had receded at an alarming pace over the last two years due to erosion, has regained its original size, thanks to beach nourishment work.
Vizag locals feared that their strolls on the beach could become a thing of the past, sea even eating up the boundary walls.With the beach getting back its original form, the place is brimming over with visitors.
In beach nourishment, sand that is lost to erosion is replaced from sources outside of the beach.
The Visakhapatnam Port Trust had taken up sand trap dredging and shore pumping as part of the ‘beach nourishment’ work in December last year in collaboration with the Dredging Corporation of India as a temporary measure to curb erosion.
Following reports that the rainbow model of sand pumping, which involved pumping sand across the beach, was not effective, Port Trust officials began using to pump sand into the sea. This provided better results in restoring the shore.
On the other hand, the logjam continues over the permanent measures to be taken to protect the beach against erosion.
Two nodal agencies appointed by the government have come up with contrary suggestions. While the Chennai-based National Institute of Technology has suggested constructing an underwater artificial reef with tetrapod blocks, the Deltares Institute of the Netherlands has suggested beach nourishment works.