BENGALURU: The construction of stonewalls by the Karnataka government along the state’s coastline in an attempt to stop sea erosion seems to have hit a roadblock. Experts from Kerala and Karnataka have raised objections to the project.
Officials from Kerala Fisheries Department have written to their counterparts in Karnataka and to the Port Authority of India (PAI), stating that the stonewall coming up along Someshwara beaches and other areas is leading to heavy sea erosion and high tides on the neighbouring state’s coast. They said the construction is also adversely affecting fishermen.
Experts and officials from the Fisheries Department of Karnataka have also raised similar concerns. They say the sea walls are being built in patches. The walls are being built in the sea, instead of land, which according to them is a futile exercise. They, however, say that the stonewall built in Marwanthe between Kundapur and Bhatkal is good and should be replicated in other places too.
The PAI and Karnataka Public Works Department (PWD) have jointly spent Rs 5 crore this financial year for the construction of 400 metres of stonewall. A metre of the wall costs Rs 1.25 lakh.
‘Stonewalls a stupid idea’
This year, walls have been built in Karwar, Udupi and Mangaluru. Between 2011 and 2022, the PAI has spent Rs271.78 crore on the project. A senior official from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in Kerala said: “Construction of stonewalls is not the solution. It is a ‘stupid’ idea. The hydro-static pressure of waves is shifting to other sides aggressively, leading to an increase in sea erosion. Salinity and heat on the sea shores is changing and aqua life is endangered due to human interference. Fishermen have also started raising objections,” he said.
M D Subhash Chandran, a noted fisheries and coast expert, said that instead of ensuring coastal regulation zones and buffer zones are maintained, the government is succumbing to pressure from public and tourism industry, and allowing constructions in no-development zones.
“There has been no loss of life, but properties damaged. Instead of ensuring flow of sediments from rivers into sea, the government is opting for stonewall construction,” MoEF official said. VN Nayak, a coast and marine expert, said maintaining estuaries, mangroves and aqua plants like Pandana, are a cheap and viable solution.