Orissa seeks Rs 100-crore World Bank loan for coast management

Bhubaneswar, August 15 : In A bid to mitigate the rising threat of coastal erosion, the Government of Orissa will seek a loan of Rs 100 crore from the World Bank to implement an integrated coastal zone management plan. In addition, an expert group, headed by the chief engineer of the Water Resources Department and with experts from IIT-Chennai who will arrive on August 21, has been formed to find out the causes for the erosion of the coast and is likely to submit its report early next month.

Over the past few days, the sea has been advancing menacingly into Puri, putting hundreds of hotels on the beach in jeopardy. In addition, sea waves have devoured the Puri-Konark marine drive, leading to panic among tourists who start flocking to the temple town from September onwards.

Besides Puri, Paradip in Jagatsinghpur, Chilika lake in Khurda-Puri districts, Gopalpur in Ganjam district and Rajnagar in Kendrapara district have been vulnerable to the advancing sea waves.

Officials in the state Revenue and Disaster Mitigation Department said the Government's latest move was based on the findings of Anna University's Institute of Ocean Management (IOM), which submitted an interim report stating that the entire 480-km-long coastline in Orissa was vulnerable to erosion. The Government has now announced a plan to take up a beach restoration project in Puri with an initial expenditure of Rs 7 crore, estimating that the work will be completed by January 2009. Another Rs 15 crore will be spent in restoring the shore near Pentha village in Kendrapara district.

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