Erosion along the Orissa coast. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 20: More than 36 per cent of the state’s 480km coastline is under the threat of erosion, experts studies have confirmed.

The recently released Shoreline Change Assessment Atlas compiled by the Institute of Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai, makes it clear that around 36.8 per cent of Orissa’s coastline is bearing the brunt of erosion.

The phenomenon is more pronounced at Gopalpur port, Puri beach, Konark-Chandrabhaga-Ramchandi beach, Paradip-Jatadhar mouth and the area south of Dhamra port.

“We are trying to create awareness on such issues as they have a bearing on the coastal communities,” said environment secretary Bhagirathi Behera on the sidelines of a workshop on the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification-2011, which saw experts sharing views.

The experts appeared particularly worried about intensive erosion taking place between Satbhaya and Gahirmatha, a well-known rookery of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles in Kendrapara district.

The continued buffeting of the shore by the waves along this stretch had resulted in the coastline receding landwards by 200 to 300 metres.

“The coast close to Pentha village is continuously eroding. In July 2007, the saline embankment was in great danger of collapsing,” said former Utkal University professor and Orissa State Coastal Zone Management Authority member Manmohan Mohanti.

With the saline embankment in the village still under pressure, the government is planning a geotube wall to arrest erosion.

The situation at Pentha has also been studied by the Geological Survey of India revealing periods of accretion and erosion related, in all probability, to climatic changes, sea level fluctuations and human activity.

Apart from the geotube wall, experts have also suggested the creation of a “bio-shield” in the shape of shelter belt plantation and raising the height of the existing saline embankment in the village to prevent further damage.

Erosion is also rampant on the Puri beach with experts blaming violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone norms and meteorological factors.

Panic had gripped the town a few years ago when tidal waves washed away not only a part of the beach but also the adjoining road disrupting traffic for days together.

The authorities sought to prevent more damage by piling stone boulders and sand bags on the eroded shoreline but that, at best, was seen as a temporary measure.

Sources said if the geotube experiment at Pentha succeeded, it might be replicated in Puri and at other places facing the threat of sea erosion.