The erosion-prone Paradip beach. Telegraph picture

Paradip, May 21: The latest findings of the regional coastal process study have shown the port region and stretches of sea beach here to be highly erosion-prone.

The study, carried out under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZMP), covered the entire state coast based on sediment cells. It has come out with disturbing morphological activities along the Paradip coast, besides some other spots.

As Paradip comes under the central government’s mega petroleum, chemicals and petro-chemical investment region, the importance of this area has gone up manifold. Paradip is fast emerging as a bustling industrial hub with two major steel projects, oil refinery and scores of ancillary industrial units queuing up to have base here.

Of the state’s 480-km-long coastline, a 50-km stretch comes under the sea-erosion prone belt. Ten per cent of the coastal patches are exposed to the onslaught of sea erosion. The stretches of beach near Gopalpur port, Paradip port, Chilika Lake, Puri, Satabhaya, Pentha have been declared as highly erosion-prone.

The riverbed is predominantly sandy in all eight rivers (Subarnarekha, Budhabalanga, Dhamra, Baitarani, Brahmani, Mahanadi, Devi and Rushikulya) in the state. The seabed sediment is primarily composed of sand followed by silt and clay. Considerable proportion of clay fractions is observed in offshore region. The sand dune system formed under natural process along southern coast, however, is a good defence against erosion.