Tidal waves wash away parts of Puri marine drive

Puri, Aug 12 (UNI) Panic gripped tourists and hoteliers along the Puri beach as tidal waves washed away newly extended marine drive from Hotel Coco Palms to Sterling Hotel.

The road communication between the two major hotels and ISKCON temple had been snapped following the incident and the damaged portions of the road had posed a serious threat to the vehicular traffic along the beach road.

Tourists, residing in the hotels in close proximity to the sea along the coast, had started leaving the hotels fearing further trouble, sources said.

The hoteliers of these area had urged the district authority to take urgent measures to protect their property and the latter had moved the state environment department.

One engineer had been sent to Goa to study the steps taken there to protect the shore from tidal sea waves, sources said.

In response to an appeal by the Beach Protection Council, two senior scientists from National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, had inspected the sea site recently and observed that massive constructions between the High Tide Line (HTL) and the Low Tide Line (LTL) were illegally allowed flouting the the CRZ norms.

They pointed out that such a construction had adversely affected the natural landscape and ecology of the shore line.

This apart, clandestine sand mining from the sensitive area of the beach had accelerated landward advancement of the sea.

The extended portion of the marine drive located within the HTL limits on the beach had aggravated the situation, the two scientists remarked.

Earlier in May this year, Chennai based Institute for Ocean Management Director Dr R.Ramesh during his spot visit, had submitted a report to the state government stating that huge construction on the seaward side of the existing road, large scale encroachments and development of a new road in the coastal stretch of Puri had been made in clear violation of the CRZ and suggested the government to take necessary steps to evict all illegal constructions from the beach.

Yet in another report, Senior Scientist of the Environment Department Dr Liaqat Alli sent by the state government to ascertain the cause of the alleged erosion and advancement decried the actions of the Puri Konark Development Authority (PKDA), which had illegally approved massive construction plans within the prohibited CRZ area of the beach.

He suggested drastic action against the violators and demolition of all illegal structures from the prohibited area of the beach.

Meanwhile, Beach Protection Council President Jagannath Bastia, while describing the disaster as man made, alleged that more than a crore of rupees was spent for construction of the illegal road to accord approval of hotels and apartment plans of some powerful builders.

He had been demanding stringent action against the PKDA officials and urged total removal of all illegal constructions from the beach and fixing of responsibility on officials for causing huge loss to the state exchequer.

UNI