PUDUCHERRY: A sandy beach is emerging once again along Puducherry town’s seafront on the southern side thanks to the artificial nourishment taken up by the port department. The project has revived dreams of a long beach along the town’s famed coastline.
Following the laying of foundation stone for Puducherry Port Development under Sagarmala scheme by Prime minister Narendra Modi on February 25, dredging of the mouth of harbour and the channel to the port was taken up. The removed sand is being dumped on the sea front near Goubert Statue and now, a narrow stretch of sandy beach is visible for about a kilometre, from the point of sand dumping to the Gandhi Statue area.
The contract is for dredging a total of 7.3 lakh cubic metres of sand over a period of one year to make the port navigable, said officials of the Port Department. The outlay for the project is `27.45 crore funded by the Ministry of Shipping.
Around 5.1 lakh cubic metres of sand which would be dredged from the “sand trap” at the mouth of the harbour would be dumped along the 3-4 km stretch of the coast, where rocks have been dumped to prevent erosion. At present, it is dumped near Goubert statue, and gradually further northwards near Gandhi statue, said the official.
Puducherry has been facing problems of erosion ever since the sandy beach gradually vanished following the construction of New Port in 1989. Time and again, several initiatives were taken to bring back the sand for protecting the town from cyclones and tsunamis, as well provide berthing facilities to fishermen and prevent sea water intrusion.
Already, on the northern side of the coast, a long beach was formed as part of the country’s first experimental Beach Restoration project (BRP) after sinking of a wedge-shaped artificial reef near the Chief Secretariat.