Central Plan To Protect Altering Shoreline Across AP Seacoast
The Union minister said the NCCR’s assessment found Kakinada to be the worst-affected district, with 52.99 per cent of its 119.26-km coastline being under erosion.
VISAKHAPATNAM: The Centre has identified vulnerable coastal stretches across the 1,027-km coastline of Andhra Pradesh, where shorelines have changed. It has prepared a Shoreline Management Plan to protect and mitigate the changes, Union Earth Sciences minister Dr Jitendra Singh informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Responding to a question by Vizianagaram MP Kalisetti Appalanaidu, Jitendra Singh said the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) has mapped the erosion, accretion, and stable shoreline stretches of Andhra Pradesh using satellite data from 1990 to 2022. This has led to identification of erosion-prone areas and evaluation of the vulnerability of settlements, infrastructure, and coastal communities.
The Union minister said the NCCR’s assessment found Kakinada to be the worst-affected district, with 52.99 per cent of its 119.26-km coastline being under erosion. Only 14.76 per cent of the coastline remains stable, while 32.25 per cent has witnessed accretion. Vulnerable locations include the Godavari River mouth spit near Yanam, the Coringa mangroves, and the Hope Island.
West Godavari has recorded 52.54 per cent erosion, followed by Krishna district with 42.71 per cent and Srikakulam with 32.14 per cent. In contrast, Vizianagaram recorded only 3.26 per cent erosion, though more than 57 per cent of its coastline has experienced accretion.
Jitendra Singh said the government has identified vulnerable stretches across AP, including Pulicat Lake and Sriharikota in Tirupati district, Machilipatnam Beach in Krishna district, and Kalingapatnam in Srikakulam district. In Visakhapatnam district, where 26.85 per cent of the coastline is affected by erosion, the Yarada and Bheemunipatnam stretches have been identified as vulnerable.
To deal with the erosion and accretion, Ministry of Earth Sciences has prepared a Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) for Andhra Pradesh based on site-specific studies. The plan has recommended measures such as beach nourishment, dune restoration, ecosystem-based protection, and engineering interventions where required.
The Union minister said key ameliorative proposals include resilience measures for the Coringa-Uppada coast in Kakinada, coastal protection works at Sriharikota, integrated management of the Krishna delta, inlet management at the Vamsadhara and Nagavali river mouths in Srikakulam, and resilience planning for the Bheemunipatnam coast in Visakhapatnam.
The study has assessed the vulnerability of coastal communities and infrastructure using 2011 Census data, geomorphological studies, and stakeholder inputs. It has identified fishing villages, ports, and ecologically sensitive areas as among the locations most vulnerable to erosion and its impact, Jitendra Singh added.
