Choppy Seas erode away Anjuna seafront by 50 metres
Soil erosion has been rapidlyeating into the vitals of the Goan beaches and this has been a cause of concernto the locals and the government.
Anjuna is one such beach inNorth Goa which faces the wrath of the sea. Constant erosion over the past onedecade has swallowed parts of the beach at St Anthony Waddo, Anjuna. Furtherthe sea has yanked large portion of sand from the bottom giving birth to acliff in the region.
Residences of 20 families and10 shops stand on this sand cliff. Widening cracks in the cliff remains aserious threat, as these families stand to lose their homes and means oflivelihood.
The water resourcesdepartment began restoration work four months ago, soon after the newgovernment took over. But locals fear government initiative may just not beenough due to slow pace of work by the department. Meanwhile sand erosion willcontinue even during this monsoon.
Locals had raised sucherosion issues since 1998 when then chief minister, Pratapsing Rane was at thehelm. The government had ignored all concerns of the locals then. “Had the thengovernment taken up the issue in earnest at least 50 meters of the hill couldbe saved,” said Hanumant Govekar. An estimate of Rs 2.65 lakh was prepared thenbut the government failed to execute the job, Govekar added.
There is even a threat to theonly access to the beach due to the massive soil erosion here. “If erosioncontinues with this pace, the only access to the beach will get washed away,”said Prasad Naik, a shop owner affected by the erosion.
Local MLA, Dayanand Mandrekarwho is also the water resources minister chose to pass the buck on the Centre.“The work got delayed as we were waiting for funds from the centralgovernment,” Mandrekar said. He further added that the contractor had beengiven six month time to undertake work, but as it’s related to sea, the timeframe might be extended by another 8 to 9 months.
The Anjuna beach restorationproject, which involves building a protection wall of 250 meter in length tostabilize the eroding beach stretch has been estimated at Rs 8.62 crore underthe Golden Jubilee funds and includes anti-sea and protection measuresfoundation.
Water resources department isworking on special solution to solve the problem. They are making huge concreteblocks which will break waves and reduce erosion.
According to supervisor,Dinesh Khandeparkar the department was working on a plan of placing concreteblocks into the sea with the help of cranes. Work of constructing anti–seaprotection wall would begin only after rains, somewhere in September, he added.
