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Experts blame Port Trust, Gangavaram port
Experts blame Port Trust, Gangavaram port, The officials seem to be gathering their wits to minimise the damage rather than taking steps to prevent beach erosion.
High Court orders on Coastal Regulation Zone violations ignored
Visakhapatnam: The officials seem to be gathering their wits to minimise the damage rather than taking steps to prevent beach erosion. No headway has been made to ensure that beautiful beach is protected, despite the availability of technology.
This is not the first time that such a phenomenon has been observed. During last three to four years, similar erosion has been occurring not only on the beach road but also near Chepalauppada village on Vizag-Bheemili road and on Kakinada-ppada road in East Godavari district. In spite of this, the authorities have not fully woken up to lurking danger.
The coastline is a valuable marine resource. Indiscriminate construction activity, CRZ violations, destruction of mangroves and damage to wetlands are the factors for the sea advancing and eroding the beach and the adjacent roads. No legal action has so far been taken against violators of laws governing the protection of wet lands.
The State High Court, in WP No. 8177 of 2007 on July 6, 2007, ordered that the District Collector enforce Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Act and remove all illegal structures but no action was taken so far. Another High Court's order on October 8, 2012 to seal all borewells within CRZ was also ignored.
Blaming it on Visakhapatnam Port Trust, former Union Secretary E A S Sarma said the port should have carried out hydrodynamic studies to assess the impact of its activities before taking up any work. Sarma said it was unfortunate that the local authorities did not care to investigate into factors that led to erosion.
Now the responsibility to restore Kursura Submarine Museum has fallen on Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation. It means that the GVMC is forced to spend the taxpayers’ money to carry out the works. Sharma criticised the officials for imposing the burden on taxpayers.
Green Climate president J Ratnam said District Collector, GVMC, VUDA and VPT should quickly commission a study by an expert group to understand the scientific reasons for the erosion and take measures to stop it on a permanent basis. Teddu Shankar of Fisherman Youth Welfare Society said the government should reconsider its decision to build more ports on the coastline
