By Arun Lakshman
Chennai, April 2 A recent study conducted by the National Assessment of Shoreline Changes along the Indian Coast reported that 422.94 km of Tamil Nadu's coastline is eroding. This is 42.7 per cent of the total coastline of the state; 332.69 km of the coastline is stable while 235.85 km of the shoreline is accreting.
Tamil Nadu has the second largest coastline in the country after Gujarat at 1076 kms. The capital Chennai is in the northernmost tip of the coastline while Kanyakumari is at the southern tip. Tamil Nadu is the only state in India with territory on both eastern and western coastlines.
The Kanyakumari area has a confluence of the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
The coastline passes through 14 districts of the state and it has 15 major ports and harbours, sandy beaches and estuaries.
The Tamil Nadu coastline was a part of the ancient silk route and had an important role in the ancient spice trade with Roman and Greek traders entering into trade agreements with the Chola, Pandya and Chera kings.
With the coastline stretching through 14 districts of the state, there is a huge fishermen population of around 15 lakh people.
But the shorelines have now started eroding.
The study reveals that of the 422.94 km of the coastline that is reported to be eroding, 16.6 km had high levels of erosion, 37.5 km has moderate erosion while 369.63 km has low erosion.
The National Assessment of Shoreline changes has prepared 80 maps on the shoreline of Tamil Nadu. The National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) which is part of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, in the study also said that before the government brings in polices and programmes, a thorough understanding of long term shoreline changes is required.
A senior scientist with NCCR who participated in the study told that long-term shoreline changes must be studied in detail, the behaviour of shoreline changes as well as the extent of shoreline changes should also be properly studied and discussed. He said that these studies are required before implementing any coastal protection scheme.
According to the NCCR study, from 1990 to 2022 the state has lost 1,802 hectares of land due to erosion.
Of this Ramanathapuram district is the worst affected losing 413.37 hectares followed by Nagapattinam with 283.69 hectares and Kancheepuram with 186.06 hectares. Interestingly the capital Chennai lost only 5.03 hectares of land due to erosion.
The projected sea-level changes are being taken seriously by the policy makers of Tamil Nadu and the changes in the sea are being monitored closely by scientists in the state.
The Tamil Nadu water works department is in the process of collecting field data and analyzing it in detail on a regular basis. The state is also comparing new and old satellite images to understand the gravity of erosion. The government is also using GIS as a tool to map the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu.
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