Walls do not help in controlling soil erosion along the coasts, in fact they make matters only worse, noted experts and forest department officials. Hence to control erosion and improve the coastline in Karnataka, natural green barriers- tree plantation, creation of mangroves and strengthening estuaries will be taken up.
Under Karnataka- Shore (K-Shore), the Karnataka forest department is working on planting two rows of trees, plants and creating mangroves. If all goes well and as per plan then Karnataka will be the first state to start the plantation. Tamil Nadu also has been working on the same project and they are slightly better placed in their work. Karnataka is said to lag behind schedule in its planning because of the two back-to-back elections- assembly and parliament. The officials said that with change in government leadership, there is also a lack of will.
“We have found that creating walls is no solution for controlling soil erosion. Natural solutions are needed with this, we made a presentation before the NITI Ayog in July 2023 and they were convinced. We also made a presentation before the World Bank seeking funds and they have agreed to fund with 70% of the project cost which is Rs 840 crore. The final detailed project report is being prepared to be submitted to the World Bank before starting the works on ground as a plan for the next five years of the project,” said a senior forest department official working on the K- Shore project.
Of the 320 km coastline of Karnataka, the forest department along with the Ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) and the Port Authority of India (PAI) have identified 240 kms where the plantation works can be taken up. The fishermen and village panchayats also seem to be keen on the project as it will help them revive the native fish and improve the environment.
“It is important to stabilise the soil from erosion during high tide and low tide. These types of plantations were present before in patches but were destroyed over the years. The locations where mangroves existed are being surveyed and they will be recreated there. With the onset of monsoon the plants will be raised in the nurseries and from October work on the ground will start,” the official said.
Earlier in 2022 and 2023 when the state government had started to build walls in Karwar, Udupi, Mangaluru and other surrounding areas, the officials from neighbouring states like Kerala had complained that this was leading to heavy sea erosion and high tide in the beach areas of their states effecting fishermen. As per reports, from 2011 to 2022 the PAI spent Rs 271.78 crore on constructing walls. The MoEFCC officials said due to construction of walls the hydro- static pressure of the waves was aggressively shifting to other areas. The salinity and heat on the sea shore was also changing, effecting the aqua life. Besides it was also noticed that during high tide the walls were collapsing and large chunks of land was flowing into the sea, further effecting the land area. But with natural plantations, such a situation will not arise, the official explained.