Rs 4cr plan to halt erosion at Coco beach

Panaji: An estimate of Rs 3.8 crore has been prepared to implement anti-erosion and protective measures for a length of 300mts of Coco beach in Nerul, water resources minister Subhash Shirodkar stated in a reply tabled in the assembly.
Nearly two decades ago, Coco beach had several shacks. But after the 2007 tsunami, a large area of the beach near the mouth of River Nerul disappeared.
WRD erected a rubble barricade with nylon netting along a roughly 200m stretch. It was partly effective in preventing further sand erosion, however, the stretch has faced the brunt of tidal action.
Over the years, WRD has been mulling over several methods to arrest this erosion from further eating into the coast.
However, in 2021, during cyclone Tauktae, high waves eroded the already battered rubble wall on the beach.
During his tenure as ports minister in 2022, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo pointed out that there is an urgent need to take up anti-erosion measures along the beach. He said that the damage to the rubble wall has resulted in the water entering nearby houses.
In the past, scientists had raised doubts about using ‘hard options’ such as a stone seawall or a rubble mound wall to prevent sand erosion, stating that such measures often lack scientific validity and may only worsen erosive processes.
Former Saligao MLA Jayesh Salgaonkar had also said in the state assembly last year that the erosion of Coco beach also witnesses seawater entering and affecting fields in Nerul during monsoon and high tide.
“The work needs to be tendered immediately to protect the beach as well as the fields on which a large populace of Nerul is dependent,” he had said.