The coastline of Visakhapatnam from Nakkapalli to Bheemunipatnam and further up is vulnerable to beach erosion due to a number of factors such as frequent depressions hitting the coast during the monsoon, an active sea and number of structures built into the sea, and to arrest the erosion beach nourishment is a scientifically proven method, said Visakhapatnam Port Trust Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu.
Addressing the media here on Friday, he said that in this year the beach nourishment has already begun on February 6 and will continue till March first week. “We estimate to pump around 3 lakh cubic metres of sand which amount to around 30,000 truck load of sand,” he said.
Last year, VPT had floated a global tender for beach nourishment for a period of three years and Dredging Corporation of India had bagged it for ₹40 crore. In the previous year around 1.05 lakh cubic metre of sand was pumped at a cost of ₹11.09 crores and in this year it will go up to ₹18.37 crore.
According to Mr. Krishna Babu, a survey was conducted along the 974-km coastline of Andhra Pradesh and 210 km was identified as danger zones by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT).
“In Visakhapatnam, there are a number of structures into the sea and that is increasing the risk of erosion. The Kurusura (Submarine) Museum is a vulnerable spot and in this year we are pumping the sand near the submarine museum and as recommended by NIOT,” he said.
Referring to Netherlands-based institute Deltares, an independent institute specialising in research in water and sub-surface, he said the firm has been given the contract to prepare a DPR on how to arrest beach erosion. “The total project cost is around ₹150 crore and Deltares will give us the engineering design, tender estimates and technical support. The report should be ready by January 2019,” said Mr. Krishna Babu.
VPT’s performance
Talking on the performance of VPT, he said that the port will gross up to 64 million tonnes compared to 61 million tonnes in the previous year.
“There is some facility problem in case of certain commodities otherwise the port can perform better. Proposal has been sent to the ministry and it is likely to be approved,” he said.
According to him, Kandla Port handles around 110 MT and Paradip touches around 100 MT per year. If the facilities are provided we can do better and moreover, unlike other ports our hinterland is limited to Chhattisgarh only.
Mr. Krishna Babu also pointed out that trade with Nepal is all set to increase to at least one rake per day. “There is some delay in the processing of papers and once Nepal opens its consulate office in Vizag, things will speed up and trade will increase,” he said.
