With sea erosion peaking in the last few months, a portion of the state highway road connecting Pulicat villages with Kattupalli is gradually going underwater. Close to 250 metres of the beach has eroded near Karungali and rough sea waves are making a splash into the highway bringing along with it loads of sand, making the road unmotorable.
TNIE recently visited the site and witnessed the hardship endured by thousands of people daily amidst the absence of a proper motorable road. While the road is no longer suited for cars, people on two-wheelers too are at risk as the wheels often get stuck in slushy sand.
If not for the two concrete training walls, the highway would have eroded and Kosathalaiyar River would have merged with the sea. Durai Mahendran, general secretary, Tiruvallur District Traditional United Fishermen Association, told TNIE, “Close to 7,000 people, mostly youth and fishermen, use this road for daily commute. This is the shortest route for people employed at Kattupalli Port and other industries in Ennore. The problem will only get worse with northeast monsoon setting in.”
When contacted, an assistant engineer in the Tamil Nadu State Highways Department said only two years ago, the Pulicat-Kattupalli road was handed over to the highways department by the village panchayat. “We have plans to upgrade the road with blacktopping and a bridge has also been proposed near Karungali, where sea erosion is a raging issue. Preliminary surveys are being carried out at present,” official added.
According to the latest shoreline changes assessment report by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), Tiruvallur coast is experiencing massive sea erosion. A deeper analysis of the NCCR study, which was based on satellite data acquired from 1990 to 2018, says 18 km out of the total 40.97 km of coastline in Tiruvallur is under immense threat. In fact, eight out of the 22 ‘erosion hotspots’ listed in the study are located in Tiruvallur and neighbouring Kancheepuram districts. Experts expressed dismay at the pace at which the beaches are eroding.
Studies show the Indian east coast is more exposed to erosion compared to the west coast. Shoreline assessment report says the area under erosion is annually increasing by 3 metres on the east coast and 2.5 metres on west coast. The reason for the problem is multi-fold. Climate change is causing sea level to rise and trigger extreme weather events, which will lead to natural erosion. This apart, anthropogenic activities like construction of ports, dams and anti-erosion hard structures have aggravated or shifted the problem to new areas.
Lamenting sea erosion in Karungali, a fishermen leader said, “The residents here attribute the blame on Adani-Kattupalli port. If the port expansion plans go through, and they build new breakwaters, the northern parts, including Karungali and the whole of Pulicat, will experience unprecedented erosion.” He also requested Chief Minister MK Stalin to stay strong on his word of not permitting Kattupalli port expansion.