BALASORE: THE wonder beach at Chandipur has been attracting tourists from far and near for its uniqueness. It is the only beach where the sea water rhythmically proceeds and recedes more than 5 km at regular interval twice daily a phenomenon seldom found anywhere else.
To study the factors behind this phenomenon, a group of geologists from Jadabpur University is carrying out a
fullfledged research on the beach. The 32member team includes two researchers on marine science, three geology professors and 27 postgraduate students.
Heerak Kumar Ray, a researcher on marine science, said the most surprising factor here is beach erosion despite the fact that the sea current is low.
The beach, due to this uniqueness, supports a lot of biodiversity. The rare horseshoe crabs and red crabs are also found on the beach. "This apart, the fossils of sea creatures found here are very rare in nature. The rare fossils collected from here will help the paleontologists in their study," pointed out geology professor S. Sarkar.
The World Tourism Organisation (WTO), a United Nations body, has also shown its interest in developing the coastline from Chandipur to Balaramgadi as a tourist getaway of international standards. A sevenmember expert team of WTO headed by James Craig Jessamine has already visited the beach and examined its potential for growth.