Pentha coast in Kendrapara

Paradip, July 29: A geo-synthetic tube will be put in place shortly to check sea erosion of the Pentha coast in Kendrapara district.

A Pune-based firm has been awarded the contract worth Rs 33 crore to build the state’s first such embankment.

Once built, the embankment is expected to protect villages vulnerable to sea-induced erosion in Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district.

The state water resources department has signed an agreement with Garware Wall Ropes Ltd, Pune, after the tender process was finalised. Work will start shortly and be completed by October next year, said an official.

The much-delayed project is being implemented under the World Bank-funded Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZMP).

The foundation for this project was laid by chief minister Naveen Patnaik in 2008. However, technical modification of the project plan and delay in floating the global tender led to work being held up. It also led to cost escalation, said an official.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, has already given the go-ahead to the project after scientific and morphological study of the seacoast. “The project was delayed due to unavoidable reasons. The technical findings of IIT Chennai were re-examined by the state water resources department. With the award of the contract to the Pune-based firm, the project work will start within a fortnight,” said executive engineer, saline embankment division, Jugal Kishore Tripathy.

The geo-synthetic tube embankment will be 7.4 metres high. During cyclones, waves can be as high as 5 metres. The length of the embankment will be 675 metres while its plinth will be three metres deep.

According to the technical plan, geo-tubes made of high-grade rexin filled with sand will be laid along the erosion-hit Pentha embankment. The sand filled rexin tubes will act as a barrier against tidal waves. It will block the tidal ingress, and absorb the salinity and sodium chloride in seawater to arrest erosion of embankment, an official said.

While 75 per cent of the project cost would be borne by the World Bank, the Centre would provide 15 per cent. The state water resources department would bear 10 per cent of the cost.

To stop tidal ingress, the department has put in place bamboo barriers and sand-filled bags as a temporary measure near Pentha coast in Rajnagar block.

Of the 480km coastline in the state, 39.3km are being eroded by the sea in varying degrees. The Pentha coast was chosen for the project as it is a high erosion zone, said an official.