Mangaluru’s Panambur Beach shrinking, cause still unclear

Team Udayavani, Sep 18, 2024, 8:18 AM IST

Mangaluru: Is Panambur Beach shrinking? According to local residents, the once expansive shoreline is no longer the same. Where thousands once roamed freely, now even a hundred visitors find it difficult to move around.

Much of the beach has been consumed by the sea. While rising sea levels during the monsoon are common, locals report that water levels haven’t receded even in September and October, which was the usual trend until a few years ago.

Panambur Beach, once famous for beach festivals and kite events, now presents challenges for tourists due to limited space. A safety rope has been placed along the shoreline, warning tourists not to go beyond it. This has made activities like walking on the sand difficult. The usually flat and expansive beach is now filled with uneven sand formations caused by the waves.

Previously, tourists could walk from the road to the beach and further along the shore to the breakwater on the left. However, much of this space is now underwater. Tourism officials state that the Karnataka government had leased 10 acres of land for Panambur Beach’s development, but now contractors say most of this area has been engulfed by the sea. With the Karavali Utsav approaching, doubts have arisen about the possibility of hosting beach activities this year.

No Water Sports Either

Water sports, which were popular at Panambur Beach, have been halted due to the monsoon season. For these activities to resume, more space is needed, which is currently unavailable.

Kulai Breakwater to Blame?

Some locals attribute the shrinking shoreline to the Kulai fishing jetty and breakwater, located 2 km north of Panambur. The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management in Chennai is preparing a shoreline management plan for Karnataka, including Panambur. The Ports Department says the study will reveal a decade’s worth of coastal movement data.

“Based on wave movement and breakwater impact, sand accumulation occurs in one area while erosion happens in another,” explained Prof. Manu, of NITK Surathkal’s Water Resources and Marine Engineering department.

– Translated version of Kannada article by Venuvinod K. S.