Popular Beachfront In Vizag Resembles Chennai's Marina

Visakhapatnam: The 'backward march' of the Bay of Bengal at the RK Beach, a popular place flocked frequently by the locals as well as visitors, creating a large stretch of beachfront for relaxation, has been attracting several people for the past few days.

Though described as not an unusual phenomena by the experts, beach lovers and those coming on a vacation to the City of Destiny are enjoying sunbathing and playing fun games or relaxing for sometime with near and dear on the large vast stretch. "I visited Vizag last year when the same beach had very little space to stretch ourselves. Now I find it resembles the famous Marina beach in Chennai where mega rallies and public meetings are being held," remarked Payal Chatterjee, a Kolkata-based software engineer, who is on a vacation here with her friends.

Experts say this phenomenon, which occurs occasionally, may be due to wave dynamics. Some say the sea is receding frequently due to formation of frequent systems after the Tsunami in 2024. A professor from Andhra University in a research study said besides the change in wave dynamics, the changing beach morphology is due to the concrete jungle culture.

Massive constructions all along the beach road from the Fishing Harbour area to Rushikonda and at Bheemunipatnam are impacting the wave pattern. Climate change is another reason which is leading the sea surge into fishermen hamlets at Pudimadaka, Bheemunipatnam and other areas.

Dr GPS Murthy, retired scientist from National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), told Bizz Buzz that the sea going backwards due to elsewhere is a natural phenomena. "If severe erosion takes place, the sand taken away by the tidal waves gets deposited in another area. There is nothing unusual about it," he clarified.

Since the sea erosion took an alarming turn leading to breaching of road near Fishing Harbour and fall of side wall near the INS Kursura Museum, Visakhapatnam Port Agency (VPA) sought expert opinion to arrest the phenomena. VPA spent nearly Rs125 crore in the past 15 years on periodically beach nourishment of the eroded beaches. During 2023-24, the port as part of its CSR initiative, collected 2.1 lakh cubic meters of sand on the eroded shores of RK Beach.

Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) has been entrusted with the responsibility to engage its dredger to collect sand from 'sand trap' created by the port between the western tip of the south breakwater and Dolphin's Nose Headland to fill the beaches where severe erosion has been reported.

Pradesh Industries, Commerce, and Food Processing Secretary N. Yuvaraj on Tuesday gave details on strategic efforts to enhance industrial growth through MSMEs and sector-specific policies.