Visakhapatnam: Union minister of state for earth sciences, Jitendra Singh, told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that as much as 294.89 kilometres or 28.7% of coastline in Andhra Pradesh are under varying degrees of erosion. Districts that have seen the highest erosion of coastline are East Godavari (89.25 km), Krishna (57.55 km), Nellore (53.32 km), Visakhapatnam (25.81 km) and Srikakulam (25.12 km). The minister, in reply to a question by Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao of BJP on the erosion of coastline in Andhra Pradesh and its impact on the state’s coastal economy, said natural factors (tropical cyclones, monsoon floods, sea level rise, extreme events, etc.) and anthropogenic factors (like ports, harbours, rivers) are responsible for coastal erosion.
On its impact, he said coastline erosion will cause loss of land or habitat and the livelihood of fishermen in terms of losing space for parking their boats, mending nets and fishing operations. Quoting a study by the National Centre for Coastal Research, Singh said the city of Vizag has been experiencing erosion for over three decades and the negative effects include loss of tourist beaches and coastal roads of about 3.5 km. The MP requested the central government to formulate a strong action plan to prevent coastal erosion and start it from Visakhapatnam, “which is a beautiful coastal tourist city and home to lakhs of fishermen.