DCIL launches beach nourishment in Vizag

VISAKHAPATNAM: Chairman of the and Dredging Corporation of India Ltd, Rama Mohana Rao, inaugurated the Sand Trap Dredging work to nourish the beach here, on Monday.

The project is financed from the CSR funds of VPA, with a contract value of Rs 20 crores, for dredging some 0.2 million cubic metres of sand in 30 days. The project would be executed by the Dredging Corporation, Visakhapatnam.

Rao said the Vishakhapatnam coast has been facing erosion, especially at Ramakrishna beach and the Submarine Museum region, due to a lack of sand supply from the southern side, during the past few years.

The Visakhapatnam Port Authority has been trying to control the erosion by regularly nourishing the Rama Krishna Beach with the sand available in the sand trap at the outer harbour, he said.

Shoreline changes, meaning erosion or accretion, is a natural phenomenon. This occurs all along the coast in varying magnitudes due to natural processes and man-made interventions. The seasonally changing winds during the southwest monsoon (June –and northeast monsoon (Dec – Feb) generate wind waves from different directions towards the beaches.

The chairman said that littoral drift occurs in the northerly direction along the coast for 8-9 months a year, with the wave approaching the coast from the southwest.

“There is a southerly littoral drift for 3 to 4 months due to north-east monsoon waves. This variation in the littoral drift results in instability of beaches where man-made structures disrupt the free-sand movement,” he said.

During the past 25 years, the Andhra Pradesh shoreline has experienced 25 per cent erosion of various magnitudes.