Sea Water Enters Streets and 60 Houses in Two Kakinada Villages
Due to rains and the rough weather in the sea, cargo-handling operations have been halted temporarily at the Kakinada Anchorage Port.
Kakinada: Following the depression in Bay of Bengal and heavy rains, the sea turned very rough on Thursday. Sea water flooded the streets and entered 60 houses in Suradapeta and Mayapatnam villages in U. Kothapalli mandal of Kakinada district.
People of these villages have shifted to other shelters and safer places till the water recedes.
U. Kothapalli tahsildar G. Chinna Rao, MPDO Ravi Kumar and panchayat officials have visited the villages. Efforts are being made to drain out the water from the streets and houses by digging separate channels.
Chinna Rao told Deccan Chronicle that once the sea water is removed from the houses, an enumeration of the damage will be done. He said all steps will be taken to protect the interests of the people.
Chinna Rao explained that Thursday being an Amavasya could have compounded the situation created by heavy rains and depression in the sea. The sea in Uppada is usually turbulent on the Pournami and Amavasya days, he pointed out.
U. Kothapalli to Kakinada road is blocked as a result. Traffic is being diverted through Pithapuram to Kakinada. U. Kothapalli sub-inspector Venkatesh said police personnel are on alert to face any challenges due to depression in the sea.
Due to rains and the rough weather in the sea, cargo-handling operations have been halted temporarily at the Kakinada Anchorage Port. Port officer Dharma Sasta said cargo operations will recommence once the rough weather and rains recede. At present, six vessels are waiting at the anchorage port for loading cargoes of rice and broken rice.
Kakinada Lok Sabha member T. Uday Srinivas has raised the Uppada coast issue in the Lok Sabha, seeking that the union government take steps to protect the coast and nearby villages from erosion due to the sea. The MP pointed out that as per the National Coastal Research Centre statistics, 52.8 percent of land along the Uppada coast has been affected due to sea erosion, which is the highest in Andhra Pradesh.
Uday Srinivas has pointed out that 650 acres of land and more than 1,000 houses have washed away into the sea during the past 50 years in the coastal villages of Uppada, Nemam, Komaragiri, Ameenabad and Subbampeta, among others. He sought centre’s approval for the Kakinada Coastal Erosion Mitigation Project under which sea walls with tetrapods, groins and other technology will be constructed and the beach nourished at an estimated cost of ₹325 crore.
