Fishing hamlets near Ennore Creek may finally get relief from the receding shoreline as the long-pending project to provide groynes is expected to begin soon.
With the environment clearance obtained recently for the project, work to construct ‘T’ shaped groynes — a collection of boulders laid into the sea and perpendicular to the shoreline — is set to begin in one or two months. These groynes will help in preventing further erosion of the coast and stop seawater incursion into fishing hamlets, particularly during monsoon.
The Water Resources Department will construct 10 groynes at regular intervals of 200-300 metres for a stretch of two kilometres near the villages of Ernavoorkuppam and Thalangkuppam along Ennore Expressway.
During northeast monsoon, residents of several villages, including Chinnakuppam and Netaji Nagar, face severe threat of erosion. Rough sea conditions during cyclones often result in flooding and road damage owing to storm surges.
Residents recall that the shoreline had shrunk rapidly by nearly 15 metres in the last five years. Poo Basha, a resident, said the combination of sea wall and groynes between the stretch of Kasimedu and Kasikoilkuppam has helped avoid seawater incursion to some extent. The government must speed up such measures in villages close to Ennore Creek to avoid seawater entering into hamlets.
The department had recently completed work to strengthen the existing rubble mound sea wall extending for a distance of four km between Nettukuppam and Ramakrishna Nagar. Officials of the WRD said the groynes would be laid for a length of 75 metres into the sea with a formation of ‘T’ shape at the edge.
The project will be executed based on a study made by the Institute of Hydraulics and Hydrology, Poondi and IIT-Madras.
P.K.Suresh, a coastal engineering consultant, who was also part of the study, said sand erosion is more in those areas owing to water depth that intensifies wave action. “We can notice that the sand is moving towards the Ennore Creek mouth and dredging is done regularly.
The ‘T’ shaped groynes will help trap more sand near the villages,” he said.
The Rs.31.82 crore project is expected to be completed in a year.
