• Sand barriers put in place
• Permanent structures in areas of regular occurrences

By Sarah Hannan With the onset of the southwestern monsoon, an increase of tide topping is observed in the southwestern coasts of the country. The high tides have surpassed the temporary barriers that were set up and are now eroding the coastline at a rapid rate. While this is a regular occurrence, the coastline starting off from Puttalam which runs down to Matara will experience a considerable level of coastal erosion. The low-pressure area, developed over south of Andaman Sea adjoining the Southeast Bay of Bengal area, has contributed towards an increase in wind speed in the western and southwestern seas prompting rough seas in these areas, the Department of Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management informed. “Earlier this year, the department took measures to construct sand barriers and placed some permanent barriers in recognised areas where coastal erosion is prevalent. This year the topping has increased in comparison to other years and we are looking at increasing the heights of these barriers,” Chief Engineer R.A.S. Ranawaka told The Morning. Ranawaka pointed out that the coastal erosion is not only taking place in Kalutara and Hikkaduwa, but also in Puttalam. Furthermore, the tide topping does not occur in a small section and can extend to several kilometres. “We have built a coastal protective structure in Kahawa which runs across 200-300 metres. But this time the waves crashed higher than these structures and sea water seeped into Galle Road. The only solution for this is to increase the height of the structure,” Ranawaka explained. Increasing the height of these permanent structures cannot be done immediately as it takes a considerable amount of time, and a budget needs to be allocated. Therefore, the department at present is only able to set up temporary sand barriers in these areas. Moreover, Ranawaka dismisses the need of setting up permanent wave barriers in all locations as the tide topping only occurs seasonally and would be in effect for a short period of time. He reiterated that even the permanent barriers were constructed in areas where the wave activities would hinder the livelihoods of the residents in the areas. “We have identified that the change in wave activity these days have especially impacted families that live in Kalutara, and Thuduwa in Puttalam. For these areas, we have currently set up temporary sand barriers,” Ranawaka reiterated. Meanwhile environmentalists raised concerns over the projects that were carried out in the coastal regions which have cost the Government a total of Rs. 890 million. The Morning inquired whether any of those projects had any correlation to the ongoing coastal erosion. “The monies were spent on beach nourishment projects in the southwestern beaches. The project entailed mining sand off the shoreline which was then used to establish artificial beaches in areas where there was no beach present. Sand nourishment was done in the Calido coastal area, Angulana, and Mount Lavinia. The projects are in place to reduce the coastal erosion, not aggravate it,” Ranawaka clarified.