Cuttack, Aug. 17: The Wildlife Society of Odisha has urged the state government to conduct a study to find out whether opening of a new mouth of the Chilika lake is causing rapid erosion of Puri beach.

The wildlife society is concerned as olive ridley turtles use a portion of the Puri beach for nesting, and erosion would eat into their ground. "We feel that an unprecedented erosion is correlated to the opening of the new mouth of the Chilika lake done on September 23 in 2000, as the beach erosion was noticed in Puri shortly after 2001," said society secretary Biswajit Mohanty.

The beach profile in Puri has been quiet stable over the past 200 years. The Puri beach has never faced this kind of erosion even two decades ago. "This delicate equilibrium, which was maintained earlier, is now disturbed due to the Chilika mouth. However, only expert studies using advanced mathematical models can confirm its true impact on the beach. Once the cause is properly identified and assessed, the government can take appropriate measures," he said.

In the past week, tidal waves have gobbled up over 200 metres of the Puri beach, compelling the district administration to inform the state government and seek expert advice. The government had then sought the assistance of IIT, Chennai to arrest the erosion.

A two-member expert team from the institute inspected the erosion site on the Puri beach on Sunday. The team had reportedly suggested construction of a geo-synthetic wall on the beach near Swargadwar to withstand the waves. The team will submit report to the government and IIT-Chennai for final decision.

The society urged the government to call a state-level consultation workshop of stakeholders where experts from all over the country can deliberate on the issues and agreement can be reached on the kind of studies required to arrest the beach erosion.

"While urging for it in a letter to chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the water resources department secretary on August 12, we have cautioned the government not to depend solely upon experts from the IIT, Chennai," Mohanty said, adding: "mitigation measures will fail unless the cause of the erosion is identified properly."

"In 2013, IIT experts had recommended geo-synthetic tube wall at Pentha in Kendrapara district, but they failed to arrest erosion since it takes place in the adjacent areas where there are no such walls. Geo-synthetic tubes recommended by them in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry have also failed miserably," the society secretary said.

Geo-synthetics are synthetic products used to stabilise terrain. They are generally polymeric products used to solve the civil engineering problems.