Stop Sea Erosion at Various Beaches of Goa Demand Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott

Stop Sea Erosion at Various Beaches of Goa Demand Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott

Panjim-Goa: Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott Olencio Simoes stated that the Water Resources Department should take immediately find mitigation measures to stop erosion at Velaso, Arossim, Cansaulim and other beaches of Goa. WRD has to work on war footing as the access to the beach is now non accessible as almost 12 feet deep erosion has taken place and our huts including houses are on the verge of getting washed away due to sea erosion .

Olencio stated that The National Centre for Coastal Research surveyed that for the last 26 years India has lost 33 percent of the coastline, Goa almost 20 percent of coastline is almost on the verge to vanish, according to the report by the National Centre for Coastal Research(NCCR), an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The NCCR They have cited the major reasons for erosion are changes in the wave pattern, wave intensity, cyclones and depressions that bring heavy rains and make the waters along the coastline choppy, reduction in sediments that rivers and other water bodies bring to the sea, rising sea-level and human activities like construction and dredging of ports.

GRE has blamed that unregulated dredging done by Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) is effecting our sandy beach of Velsao. The maintenance dredging carried at MPT of around 5 lakh cubic-millimeter (Mm3) of sediment is dredged every year ,due to this continuous dredging of such a large quantum is destroying the ecology of the region and this has aggravate sand erosion and has caused drastic morphological changes and this is very evident on khariwado, Siridao ,Baina ,Desstero beach as the major part of the beach is already eroded and now this is adversely effected other beaches too including Velsao,Arossim,Cansaulim Beach and other beaches too.

M V Ramana Murthy, director of National Centre for Coastal Research(NCCR) has also stated that the dredged sediments in port areas are usually dumped in deep seas and has recommend that the sediments should be dumped along the coast nearby which will help to stop erosion . MPT dredged material is dumped in the deep sea, and hence lost forever. However the same dredged sediments which is essentially sandy could be used for beach nourishment considering that most of our beaches are losing sand, but should be executed only with proper study. Therefore GRE has demanded that the WRD department and the new minister to immediately carry Proper bathymetry (the measurement of depth of water in oceans, seas, or lakes) study should be done to find out exact the reason of beach erosion and Visit the Pondicherry State as they have restored their lost beach.

The job of restoring of the beach was given to Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences who had tied up with Singapore-based Sanctuary Beach, a firm with international expertise in beach restoration work. The same could be executed to restore/stop our fast eroding beaches.

Report submitted by : Olencio Simoes- Gen. Sec. of GRE, AGFU & Vice Chairperson of National Fishworkers’ Forum.