Coastal erosion, global warming and rising sea levels are significant issues in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Stretching from Ichchapuram in Srikakulam district in the north to Tada in Nellore district in the south, the state has the second longest coastline in the country at 974 kilometers.
According to the National Center for Coastal Research report ‘Status of Andhra Pradesh Shoreline Changes along the Indian Coast (1990-2018), 28.7 percent of beaches are eroding, 21.7 percent are stable and 49.6 percent are increasing.
The reasons are both anthropogenic and geographical – in other words, human activities and natural phenomena. Many areas are prone to erosion due to geographic factors such as wave action, global warming, rising sea levels, melting ice, cyclones, and human activities such as construction and deforestation.
Some of the major areas facing significant effects of coastal erosion are Uppada, Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, delta areas of Krishna and Godavari districts and Krishnapatnam. It is important to note that coastal erosion is a complex problem that can be influenced by a number of factors, and the specific causes may vary from place to place.
“Our coast is monsoonal, which encounters cyclones, storms and others, producing high and aggressive waves that cause coastal erosion. Moreover, in the name of modernization and industrialization, we build jetties and harbors at sea, thereby preventing the natural flow of sand, known as sedimentary transport.
In the Bay of Bengal, sediment transport occurs from south to north. With the construction of ports, piers and breakwaters, this natural process is being prevented,” explains Dr. K. S. Murthy, CSIR Scientist Emeritus, National Institute of Oceanography.
“Considering this, sediment transport from Gangavaram in the south is prevented from flowing towards RK Beach and other areas in the north, leaving them eroded.” Casuarina trees and mangroves help absorb wave effects on the village’s coast. But when it comes to cities, modernized ports don’t behave the same, so coastal vegetation remains destroyed where the coast is more exposed to ocean waves, leading to erosion,” he says.
Fishermen are most vulnerable to coastal erosion and rising sea levels because their livelihoods depend on it, and have struggled in recent years. “The quantity and quality of fish has deteriorated over the past ten years, and so have our lives. 60-70 percent of us are inshore fishermen who fish inshore and nearby.
Only the remaining fishermen continue to fish in the deep sea. Today, the percentage of fish catches has decreased to 50 percent and a huge amount of marine debris has been caught. The boats we use cannot withstand the strong currents and most of the fish are not available in these areas,” Tataji, a fisherman from Visakhapatnam, told the newspaper.
Coastal erosion and global warming have also affected the Godavari and Krishna districts. Groundwater extraction causes seawater to intrude into coastal waters, lowering groundwater levels and raising seawater levels. Overexploitation of groundwater, diversion of salt water channels for aquaculture and use of groundwater affect villages during floods and reduce the quality of villages.
