KENDRAPARA : THE State Government has decided to build armoury stone protection barrier at Pentha here as the much-hyped geo-synthetic-tube wall failed to protect the village from sea erosion. The pounding sea waves recently gnawed away a portion of the geo-synthetic-tube wall and are threatening to topple the tubes. “In order to protect the geo-tubes, we planned to build a sea-front armoury stone protection barrier,” said Purnachandra Rath, Executive Engineer (saline embankment), Aul. In June, the State Government had built the 505-metre geo synthetic-tube wall at an estimated cost of `32 crore under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) programme at Pentha village with technical support from IIT-Madras.
“Earlier, the scientists of IIT-Madras had suggested us to plant casuarinas in front of the wall to protect the geo tubes from tidal waves. But due to lack of space on the beach, we shelved the casuarina plantation work and decided to build armoury stone protection barrier at an estimated cost of `3.97 crore. Construction work was started on Thursday and it will be completed within six months,” Rath said.
Environmentalist Sudhansu Parida said the construction of geo-synthetic-tube wall in Pentha was a mistaken effort by the authorities to save the villages from the onslaught of marching sea. The State Government should stop inviting experts from IIT-Madras to address the problem of coastal erosion since their advice to put up geosynthetic tube has failed in the past in Puducherry, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and even at Pentha. The officials should adopt alternative methods to protect the village from sea erosion, he added. Contacted, Project Director of ICZM Ajit Patnaik said a Pune-based company had built the geo-synthetic tube wall at Pentha. It is the responsibility of the company to repair the damaged tubes and maintain the project, he said.