Southwest monsoon worsens coastal erosion in southern dists

Chennai

“The place where boats were tied up was lost to coastal erosion due to the southwest monsoon rain in Manakudi, a coastal village near Cape Comorin in Kanniyakumari district. In the recent years, the fishermen have lost a large chunk of land to coastal erosion,” A Mariadasan, an 80-year-old fisherman from Mela Manakudi, told DT Next.

The southwest monsoon showers have been lashing southern parts of the State and neighbouring Kerala since the first week of June. Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts received intense showers. Due to the rain and high tides, the coastal areas are inundated resulting in coastal erosion.

Fishermen in the coastal areas blame the boulders kept as groynes as the reason for coastal erosion.

“Boulders displaced the sand that had held the land together, resulting in coastal erosion when monsoon lashed the coastal areas. In the last 40 years, more than half a kilometer of coastal land has been lost to coastal erosion,” said K Antony, 65-year-old fisherman from Keezha Manakudi coastal village.

However, environmentalists from the region blame global warming as the reason for the erosion.

“Coastal erosion is a global phenomenon and the important reason is global warming, which results in rise in sea level. Local conditions will also influence coastal erosion to some extent but on a larger scale, they will only aggravate coastal erosion,” said environmentalist Davidson Sargunam, IUCN member for Ecosystem Management, from Kanniyakumari district.

When asked about the solution for erosion, Davidson said the fishing hamlets, which would be the worst affected due to this, should be constructed at least 500 metres away from the coast.