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by Christie Fernando, Chilaw special correspondent

The Maha Oya - Lansigama coastal stabilisation scheme under the Coastal Resources Management Project costing 1013 million rupees was inaugurated by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceanic Resources Mahinda Wijesekera with pomp and fanfare at the Lansigama beach front, in Chilaw recently.

As it is, the sea had taken a heavy aggregate of sand. The net result has been sea erosion witnessed on the Western seaboard in the Chilaw-Puttalam district especially in Wellamankere and Lansigama in the Wennappuwa area where several houses have been completely battered and washed away by the tidal waves and many other dwellings in Kammala in Sindhathriya were also ravaged by mounting waves, gusty winds, high tides and storm surges resulting in 'Tidal wave' situations. The effects of such events are usually a combination of flooding and offshore loss of sand.

Sea erosion in Lansigama - Wellamankere in the Wennappuwa area has caused havoc over the years and hundreds of families were left homeless.

It was evident that the sea was gradually eating away and corroding the mainland, and, as a result, the sea took a heavy toll of several feet of sand, annually. A permanent solution was the need of the hour. And the Coast Conservation Department however recognised the fact that heavy erosion of the coast north of Colombo in recent years has in part attributed to the high levels of sand extraction in the lower reaches of Kelani Ganga. The primary supply of sand into the coastal waters was by rivers.

The deficiency of this source of supply has therefore adversely affected the nourishment of beaches.

Pumping out sea sand to the shore line from a ship in mid sea through a long pipe line at Lansigama, Katuneriya.

Since the establishment of the Coast Conservation Act in 1983, the Coast Conservation Department has made a tremendous effort to regulate the sand mining done extensively from beaches, estuaries and lower reaches of rivers.

Hence to assess the possibilities of remedial measures to prevent and mitigate further environmental degradation due to sand mining, the Coast Conservation Department adopted permanent preventive measures to arrest further damage.

The fishing villages in Kammalmoya, Rangammulla, Wellankara, Taldeka, Kolinjadiya and Katuneriya in the coastal reach of Lansigama-Mahaoya have been devastated by coastal erosion in the last decade. Therefore the coastal reaches selected for stabilisation under the Coastal Resources Management Project are: Maha Oya to Lansigama (13 Km); Colombo North to Dikowita (8 Km); Wadduwa to Kalutara (6 Km); Kaluganga river mouth to Maggona Point (8 Km), Beruwala to Bentota (8 Km) and Hikkaduwa (8 Km).

International tenders were called under the Coastal Resources Management Project for coastal stabilisation works from Lansigama to Maggona Point and the contract was awarded to MT Hojgaard Co. of Denmark. The contract value is Rs. 2695 million.

The Coast Conservation Department had spent more than Rs. 10 million every year to mitigate the devastation caused by coast erosion in these areas. However, as such palliatives were insufficient to solve the problem of erosion, and as a long-term solution was essential, the Coastal Resources Management Project allocated a sum of Rs. 1013 million for stabilisation works for this coastal reach.

This provision will be utilised for the implementation of the following development works:

* Beach replenishment - (A volume of 2,325,000 cubic meters of sand will be pumped to the beaches from offshore).

* Construction of revetments (3870m)

* Construction of Groynes (4 Nos. each of 60-100 length)

* Offshore breakwaters (7 Nos. each of 100-150 length)

* Lengthening of 6 Nos. existing 30m groynes (to a length of up to 75m) Of these development works, beach replenishment of 1.3 million cubic meters and the construction of 990 meters of revetments between Kolinjadiya and Lansigama are scheduled for completion before 1st of June this year.

The balance construction and beach replenishment works are scheduled for completion by May 2005.

The primary benefits to be derived in the region are:

* Socio economic and cultural development, raising the living standards of the people of the area through controlling coast erosion by the construction of protection structures and beach replenishment.

* Improving the facilities for fishing which is the main livelihood of the people of the area by creating small anchorages and improvement of facilities.

* Provision of additional beach space for fisheries and other livelihood activities

* Management of coastal resources in a sustainable way, namely: catching of fish processing and marketing.

* The increase of fish production

* The rehabilitation of over a 2000 beneficiaries namely the fisher families in these semi-urban hamlets.

We are well aware coastal erosion has been a long-standing problem in Sri Lanka, which resulted in the loss or degradation of valuable sandy beaches in the coastal belt. Erosion occurs due to both natural phenomena and human interventions. Approximately rupees 1,520 million has been invested on erosion management in the coastal zone during the period 1985 to 1999. Further, three billion rupees has been allocated by the government for coastal stabilisation works through the Coastal Resources Management project spanning 2000 to 2005.

The Master Plan for Coast Erosion Management (MPCEM) of 1986 has identified 15 key areas and a further 11 singular sites where erosion is more localised. Twelve key areas and seven singular sites are in the western, south-western and southern coastal stretches where erosion is most severe; the others are distributed in the northern, north-eastern and eastern coasts.

Although erosion is not a major problem in the northern and eastern sectors of the coastline, there are certain pockets where significant impacts have been clearly observed. Examples are Sirimapura, Salpearu and Muttur in the Trincomalee district; Kalmunai, Palaimeenmadu and Oluvil in the Batticaloa district; Vankalai and Arippu in the Mannar district and Vadamarachchi and Munnai in the Jaffna district.

Coastal sand accretion rates are generally lower than erosion rates, but natural accretion has been notable in the Kalpitiya peninsula in the Puttalam district (e.g. near the Kandakuliya fishery camp and towards Talawila) and some areas of Batticaloa, particularly north of Kalawanchikudi. There have also been some sand nourishment initiatives resulting in 'artificial accretion' in Negombo; and this type of intervention is expected as other sites selected for coastal stabilisation.

It is to be mentioned however that human activities have an impact on coastal stability in Sri Lanka. For instance, beach sand mining has reduced beach sand quantity available for littoral ('land' near the sea coast) purposes. This definitely induced beach and coast erosion. Examples of sites affected are Panadura, Lunawa, Angulana and Palliyawatte.

Then, river sand mining reduces river sand supply to the beach which induced erosion of beaches and river banks. The sites affected are Nilwala Ganga, Gin Ganga, Kalu Ganga, Kelani Ganga, Maha Oya and Deduru Oya. On the other hand, inland coral mining converts productive land into waterlogged areas, creating inland waste dumps and abandoned pits. It reduced also long-term coastal stability by creation of low-lying areas.

The sites affected in this instance are Akurala, Kahawa, Ahangama and Midigama. In addition, the collecting of coral from the beaches and shore-face reduced the volume of beach material, including thereby beach and coastal erosion.

The sites affected are from Ambalangoda Hikkaduwa, Midigama, Ahangama and Polhena. Then, reef breaking or dynamiting for coral mining of fishing also reduced coastal stability, causing loss of buildings, etc., and necessitating the performance of coast protection which may interfere with coastal processes. And the sites affected in this manner stretch from Amabnalgoda to Hikkaduwa, Koggala, Midigama, Polhena, Rekawa, Passikudha, Kuchchaveli and Nilaveli.

The construction of buildings and infrastructure installations, etc, which are closer to the coastline also reduced coastal stability, causing loss of buildings etc, which necessitates the performance of coast protection which may interfere with coastal protection and examples of sites affected are Hikkaduwa, Bentota, Beruwala and Negombo.

The other factor is maintenance dredging in access channels and port entrances which reduced sand from the littoral budget (unless the sand is pumped back to the downstream beach) - all these cause erosion in adjacent coastal stretches, and Colombo is one striking example. Then there is also the sea level rise due to the greenhouse effect, generating offshore movement of sand which can cause erosion along all coastlines and increase the frequency of flooding of low lying areas. Erosion can be expected along all sedimentary shores.

Lastly, the loss of coastal vegetation (e.g. due to grazing and traffic) exposes areas subject to more rapid rates of wind erosion, and this induces dune and coastal erosion. Examples of sites affected are Palliyawatta, Koggala, Polhena and Negombo.

The Minister of Fisheries and Oceanic Resources speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of sand pumping from the sea, said he could have profitably used the whole component of rupees twenty six thousand lakhs to buy boats, fishing gear and build roads, repair houses, provide water, electricity and housing for the needy fishermen, but the stabilisation of the coast was paramount and was of prime importance, because, without the beach front or the coastline, fishermen would obviously forfeit their livelihood.

Fishermen could not be allocated alternative housing away from the beach. This was unwieldy, because, they should be in close proximity to the sea to make their fishing expeditions to the sea and bring ashore fish shoals in bulk for sustenance of the nation. He pointed out that the fishermen in Sri Lanka caught even little fish, exhausting the sea bed resources.

The Maldivian Fisheries Minister whom he met had disclosed that in the Maldives, they caught fish sufficient only for the day. They saw to it that there was fish to catch the next day too. But, here, the fishermen did just the opposite. Beach restoration or stabilisation of the stretch from Maha Oya to Lansigama in

Wennappuwa is 13 miles and it is billed to be completed by June this year. Pumping of sand from a ship away from the sea, revetments and breakwaters to be built to stop sea sand from receding will be a gargantuan task.

It was a long-term solution, because the beaches are exposed to the elements, the winds, currents, storms, waves, etc.

Residents within the project area are advised, it is very risky to loiter near the pumping points where sand replenishment is being carried out. They are therefore kindly asked by the Ministry of Fisheries to refrain from doing so for the sake of their own safety.

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