Eye on solutions such as sand nourishment
PANAJI
Ahead of adopting Netherlands’ strategic ‘Sand Motor’ technique to assess the sand erosion crisis, the State government along with the Dutch firm Deltares will conduct a two-day long workshop to address the issue and find alternate solutions like that of sand nourishment to combat increasing coastal erosion.
A National Workshop on Capacity Building for Erosion Study in the State of Goa is been organized by the State Environment department in collaboration with Deltares on November 18-19.
“The purpose of this workshop is to address the issues of coastal erosion and find out the alternate solutions to replace hard structures like sea walls, groynes etc with natural softer options like beach nourishment, dune planting etc,” a senior official said.
The Goa government has officially engaged the services of Dutch firm Deltares as a consultant on a nomination basis for one-year tenure to study and assess the sand erosion. Deltares, is an independent institute for applied research in the field of water, sub-surface.
With almost 15 per cent of Goa’s 139 km-long coastline ravaged by sand erosion, the a ‘Sand Motor’ technology - a manmade peninsula of sand that uses the forces of nature, like waves and currents, to spread and combat coastal erosion through ‘sand nourishment’ will be adopted in the State.
“The beach restoration will primarily benefit the coastal dwellers living along the Goa coast including fishing households, the owners, operators and employees of fishing boats, hotels and other tourism related business,” official said.
As per the ISRO report, the State has got long stable shoreline of around 117 kms while erosion is reported along the 22 kms of the coastal region. At the same time, accretion is observed along 7 kms of coastline.
The coastal belt along the North Goa has reported severe erosion covering 16 kms of shoreline. The erosion is observed along the coast of Keri, Harmal, Morjim and Anjuna. In the South, 6kms of coastline is under erosion.
