Port Blair: Unusual high-tides indicate tsunami

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Port Blair, May 23: The abnormal rise in sea-level during high-tides in the last three days has re-opened tsunami scars of thousands in the remote Islands of Andaman and Nicobar.

However, officials have failed to provide any concrete data regarding this.

This unusual phenomenon have left huge heaps of sand deposited infront of houses and hotels nearby, causing problem for the people.

''The coastal road is overloaded with sea sand of nearly one meter height,'' said Jaya Bhasker, a manager of a three-star category hotel at famous Corbyn's Cove beach here.

After getting similar reports from Phuket and Bangkok, people in tsunami hit Car Nicobar Islands feared this as an indication of another disaster, but local administration dismissed it saying everything was normal.

However, Port Management Board (PMB) Harbour Master Commander Purnendu Vidyanta told UNI here that there might be three main reasons- monsoon, change in the beach profile after tsunami and the timing of tides coinciding with office timings.

Commander Vidyanata said,''This is normal after heavy monsoon as water from hilly areas mix up with seawater which raises the sea level.'' Normally reading of high-tides in these Islands is 1.8 to 1.9 meters but during monsoon and full moon nights, the reading goes upto 2.4 meters. In this case monsoon and full-moon came together, he added.

The waves smashed into premises of a few restaurants, constructed along coastal areas on May 19 and 20, overturning tables and chairs.

However, no injuries were reported from the restaurants, sources said.

The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) had installed nearly 15 tide gauges across the country to measure tidal variations, but officials failed to provide any reading behind this abnormal rise of tide level.

'' We have readings of rise in the wave height of sea but not of tides. Due to Southwest monsoon, the wave heights are higher and the beach profile of Andaman has already changed which can be the reason behind this,'' NIOT (Chennai) Project Director Prem Kumar said over the phone.

''Its dangerous and risky to go for a drive along Corbyn's cove beach as the vehicles get stick in sand deposited on road, a tourist from Kolkata said.

Apart from the changes in the beach profile, many believe that Sea Walls had prevented seawater entry in these places, thereby forcing the sea to flood other adjacent areas, sources said.

Massive Sea walls have been constructed in various places of South Andaman to reclaim land, inundated by seawater after tsunami due to tilting of land mass.

The project, Post Seismic Relaxation in Andaman and Nicobar (PRAN), had already recorded a tilt of four-and-a-half metres along the North-South belt of the 572 island conglomerate in the Indian Ocean and an East-West tilt of two-and-a-half metres, explaining why most of the 1700 hectares of paddy fields in Port Blair's eastern coast were still submerged in water.

People and fishermen have not ventured into the sea during the last few days, fearing another disastrous tsunami.

UNI

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