KAKINADA: Uppada and seven other villages are facing erosion threat as geotubes installed along the coast between Kakinada city and Uppada in the mid-2000s at a cost of Rs 12.5 crore have been badly damaged due to high tides during cyclones and they need immediate replacement. Several houses of fishermen in Uppada and other villages have already been damaged due to soil erosion.
Though the Roads and Buildings Department had already given its consent to a proposal sent by the East Godavari district administration for constructing a 3 km geotube seawall at a cost of Rs 135 crore, the project is yet to take off.
Kakinada MP Vanga Geeta met Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav and urged the Centre to replace the damaged geotubes to protect the fishermen’s villages at Uppada from the erosion threat. The MP’s appeal was also taken to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The 19 km road between Kakinada and Uppada along the seacoast is popular as beach road. There is a need to implement a concrete plan to protect the road from the constant erosion threat.According to official sources, more than 600 acres of land, 200 thatched houses and two temples adjacent to the coast have already been swallowed by the sea over the past few decades.
The National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) has identified Uppada as a high erosion-prone area in Andhra Pradesh due to the rough sea. According to the 2011 census, Uppada in U Kothapalli mandal has a population of 12,960 with 3,190 households. Majority of the households are fishermen.
Highlighting the erosion, Coastal Region Rights Protection Samithi founder D Satyanarayana has underlined the need for a change in the design of geotube reinstallation along the coast as there is not enough space between the sea water and the shore at Uppada to construct a seawall. Democratic Traditional Fishers and Workers Forum general secretary D Pal has suggested that saplings be planted along the coast to prevent erosion.
Vanga Geetha said as a member of the environment committee, she explained to Bhupender Yadav the need to take up geotube replacement on a priority basis to protect the fishermen’s villages from erosion. A technical team will estimate the project cost after visiting Uppada, she added.