Threat of sea erosion looms over Dakshina Kannada coast

MANGALURU: With sea erosion slowly intensifying at Subhashnagar, Battampady, Uchila, Kaiko at Ullal and Sasihitlu at Mukka near Mangaluru, the Dakshina Kannada district administration is monitoring the situation closely.

Over two dozen houses are facing danger at Ullal and the local administration has urged residents to shift to safe places or relief centres. A relief centre has been opened at Ombathukere in Ullal and special teams will keep a vigil round the clock, Ullal CMC Commissioner Vani Alva said.

Meanwhile, a road connecting Meenakaliya with Panambur has been damaged due to sea erosion. “Though the authorities have visited the area several times and promised a permanent solution to sea erosion, nothing has been done so far.

Many houses may get washed away by the raging waves at Sasihithlu and Meenakaliya,” according to a resident. KS Jayappa, professor and chairman, the Department of Marine Geology, Mangalore University, said Kotepura, Someshwar, Sasihitlu and parts of Mukka are some of the areas worst affected by sea erosion.

Ullal beach losing 1 km of shorelines every year

“Ullal beach is losing more than 1m of shoreline every year and sea erosion has affected 40% of 30 beaches in the coastal region of Karnataka. The source of sediment has drastically reduced because of construction of vented dams. A large quantity of sediment is dredged for various development activities, including concrete roads, multi-storied apartments, etc., for which sand is used.

We have not only stored water, but also withheld sediment which otherwise would have reached the near shore and come back to the beaches through wave activity. Human interference such as the construction of seawalls, ports, harbours and encroachments are some of the reasons.

Beaches act as cushions and they are the playgrounds for waves. We need to retreat as much as possible and we need to go for green walls instead of sea walls using Casuarina trees or Ipomoea biloba, a creeper or salt tolerant plants,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Ravi Kumar MR said the special teams along with Coast Guard personnel are on standby in the affected areas. “The situation is calm now except for the raging waves. The tides are not so high now but we have sounded alerts at Someshwar and Uchila beaches in Ullal.

Fishermen and tourists have been warned not to visit the affected beaches. Our major concern is Ullal which usually witnesses large scale damage. We are expecting heavy rains from Sunday morning. We are monitoring the situation along our coastline closely,” he added.