28.7% of coastal belt in AP declared as a red zone

Srikakulam : The sea coast of the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh has become vulnerable, with over 25 kilometres of coastal areas in Srikakulam district declared as a red zone.

According to Central geophysics wing reports, 28.7% of the coastal belt in Andhra Pradesh has been damaged due to erosion.

The 973-kilometre sea coast across the state has been affected by tropical cyclones, floods, changes in river courses where they meet the sea, pollution, indiscriminate mining activities along the coast, and deforestation in the shore areas.

Temperatures are rising to dangerous levels due to industrial pollution, extensive urbanisation, reduction of cultivation areas, deforestation, and frequent cyclones causing significant damage.

Illegal mining activities by various beach sand mining companies to extract minerals like zircon, garnet, ilmenite, rutile, sillimanite, monasite, and leucoxene have led to damage of mangroves by corporate companies.

In particular, in Gara and Srikakulam rural mandals, two notable corporate companies have damaged the mangroves along the sea coast, leading to sea coast erosion in Gara mandal.

Illegal sand mining has also caused rivers to change their course at their merger points with the sea, further contributing to the erosion of the coast.

The proposed nuclear power plant (NPP) in Kovvada village in Ranastalam mandal is also located in the Red Zone and falls within an earthquake-prone area. These factors have caused fear among the local population regarding their safety.

A founding member of the Paryavarana Parirakshana Samithi Beena Dhilli Rao said that “nature is always powerful, and we must respect its original order. Excessive human activities can disrupt the natural order.”

Geologist D Swamy Naidu emphasised the importance of preventing industrial pollution, halting illegal sand mining, and protecting existing mangroves while planting palm and casuarina trees to prevent sea coast erosion.