Bhubaneswar, Aug 15: Indian Institute of Technology’s (IIT) two member expert team, consisting of Ram Kumar and Kadir Rawan, on Sunday inspected the high tide ingress at the Puri beach. The two examined the nature and timing of the tides and also spoke with the nearby residing fisherman. The team was assisted by the district administration officials that provided data on the same incident which has happened in the past.
River protection is the main reason for the erosion that normally occurs during the month of August and September, informed expert team member, Ram Kumar.
The team voiced their concern about the changing course of Mangala River and would submit their suggestions to the Odisha government and IIT-Madras on sea wave ingress.
Excavation work for free flow of river water to the sea has been initiated. For this, the river mouth would be dug up to 170 metre long and 80 metre wide with 5 metre depth, informed Executive engineer, Irrigation Department, Artatrana Sahu.
According to the reports, around 200 metres of the beach has already been swallowed by the tidal waves and now this tidal wave has created a fear among visitors as it has started to hit the Marine Drive road wall. Keeping this in view, the spot has been marked with red flags by the administration. Along with this, police patrolling has also been increased at the spot and the administration is also closely monitoring the sea waves.
