Success Story Restoration of Puducherry Beach

Puducherry U.T. Action Plan on Climate Change - Coastal and Disaster Management Mission

GOVERNMENT OF PUDUCHERRY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT PUDUCHERRY CLIMATE CHANGE CELL (PCCC)

Abstract The pristine coastline of Puducherry which is the lifeline of this small coastal town is facing significant erosion over the last three decades, which has threatened development and resulted in substantial protection works. As on date, eight km length of the coastline is protected by seawall and groyne field. The beautiful historical beach in front of the town has disappeared, leaving only the rock wall which prevents access to the seaside, and is out of harmony with the city’s tourism aspirations. Hence, restoration of the beaches has become one of the top priorities for the Puducherry Government.

About Puducherry

Puducherry, formerly known as , is a consisting of four enclaves of former French , namely Puducherry, , Mahe and . Puducherry and Karaikal are interwoven with the State of Tamil Nadu, Mahe are Yanam are located within the states of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh respectively. Map of Puducherry Union Territory

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Puducherry is popularly known as “French Riviera of India”. It is gifted with abundant scenic beauty, serene beaches, tree lined boulevards, quaint colonial heritage buildings and Pondicherry Promenade spiritual legacy.

Pondicherry Harbour Puducherry still remains the window of French culture in India and retains its distinct French character. It attracts large number of national and international visitors every year who come for spiritual enlightenment and coastal tourism to "Give time a break!". Also the town has grown into an educational hub attracting students from distant places aspiring for French Quarter - Pondicherry

Meditation around bonfire near higher education in arts, science, medical and Golden Globe, Pondicherry engineering streams.

Climate Change Context

Puducherry Union Territory is occupying mostly low-lying coastal and water-adjacent lands. In light of the Climate Change, the coastal areas constitute the highly vulnerable eco- system in the world. The Coastlines of

Pondicherry promenade beach after Thane cyclone 2011 2 Puducherry is distinctly vulnerable to rising sea levels and intensifying tropical cyclones exacerbated by climate change. Puducherry in its recent past witnessed increased incidence of natural hazards resulting in extensive economic and losses of life. The tsunami in December 2004 and the Thane cyclone in 2011 have resulted in extensive human and economic loss along the coastal areas of Puducherry. The coastline of Puducherry is facing significant erosion, which has threatened development and resulted in substantial protection works.

Puducherry Action Plan on Climate Change

To strengthen the UT against Climate threat, Puducherry Action Plan on Climate Change was formulated with an objective of identifying and prioritizing strategies that addressing the implications of Climate Change for Puducherry and the necessity to implement various mitigation and adaptation measures in line with the National Action Plan for Climate Change.

From the eight fold national mission, Puducherry in turn picked up and strategized actions for the seven missions that are relevant to Puducherry Union Territory. One of the key missions is the Coastal and Disaster Management Mission.

Coastal and Disaster Management Mission

This mission assess the vulnerability of the coastal community in light of the projected variation in climate, weather variability and climate extremes and strategize measures towards effective disaster risk reduction and promotes the concept of disaster resilience. Pondicherry Coastline

3 The pristine coastline of Puducherry which is the lifeline of this small coastal town is facing significant erosion over the last three decades, which has threatened development and resulted in substantial protection works. As on date, eight km length of the coastline is protected by seawall and groyne field. The beautiful historical beach in front of the town has disappeared, leaving only the rock wall which prevents access to the seaside, and is out of harmony with the city’s tourism aspirations. Hence, restoration of the beaches has become one of the top priorities for the Puducherry Government.

Project on Restoration of Puducherry Beach

The project involves carrying out coastal protection measures along the Puducherry Beach near Gandhi Statue to solve the severe coastal erosion problem and restore the beach. Significant erosion has occurred in Puducherry over the last 3 decades, which has threatened development and resulted in substantial protection works.

View of Proposed Project - Puducherry Beach Restoration

To restore the lost beach along Puducherry a hybrid solution with two reefs and beach nourishment is proposed based on the learning from experimental beach nourishment, process based measurements and numerical studies.

4 The proposed solution involves

 Construction of one Nearshore Wedge reef opposite to the Chief Secretariat on the north end of Pondicherry town foreshore, with the crest at Chart Datum.

 Construction of one Offshore reef placed at the south end, at 300 m north of the pier, with the crest at 1 m above Chart Datum.

 Sand nourishment using 4,50,000 m3 of sand between northern and southern

reef along the Coastline of Pondicherry Layout of Restoration of Puducherry Beach Town near Gandhi Statue.

The goal of the near-shore wedge reef in the north is to provide a mild barrier to sediment losses, thus enabling sand to move naturally to the north while slowing the losses of sand from the town foreshore.

The goal of the offshore reef at the south is to create a salient or tombolo which will hold the sand on the town beaches which also acts to prevent sand losses from the town back to the Port.

National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences has monitored the coastal processes responsible for shoreline changes from 2012 and has prepared a comprehensive Shoreline Management Plan for Puducherry in May 2015.

Based on the detailed Hydrodynamic and Coastal process studies carried out, NIOT has designed and implemented the project - Restoration of Puducherry Beach.

The project was commenced in March 2017 and construction of northern wedge reef and sand nourishment is under progress. Construction Plan of Nearshore Wedge reef

5 The beach nourishment using 3 lakh cubic metres is implemented by the Puducherry government in two ways. i) Rainbow nourishment for offshore profiles using suction dredger ii) Pipe line nourishment for nearshore profiles using cutter suction dredger. The sand for both the schemes is dredged from port mouth.

Arial view - Construction of Nearshore Wedge reef opposite to the Chief Secretariat, Pondicherry

The Puducherry government is also planning to cover existing stone walls with 1.5 lakh m3 of sand.

The Beach is already taking shape near the seawall and with the steady progress of the beach restoration project the city’s coastline could soon travel back in time to its sandy past.

Rainbow nourishment for offshore profiles using suction dredger in Pondicherry coast

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Highlights of Restoration of Puducherry Beach Project

Benefits • Strengthened resilience of the Puducherry coast to the impacts of climate change.

• Protection to the economic and social sector from rising seas. • Mainstreaming climate change resilience into coastal protection and shoreline management through scientific intervention

• Successful implementation climate resilient coastal protection measures that could be scaled up to the neighboring coasts. • Dissemination of strategic knowledge on application of adaptation measures to

protect vulnerable coastal areas.

Studies:

• The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management under the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change prepared the National Shoreline Changes Assessment Report- Puducherry in 2011.

• National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences has prepared a comprehensive Shoreline Management Plan and has designed the project - Restoration of Puducherry Beach.

Technicalities: • Area of near-shore reef - 28,540 m2 of 4 m height.

• Area of offshore reef - 4,200 m2 of 4 m height. • Reclamation/ beach nourishment using dredged sand of 4,50,000 m3 provided by Port Department, Puducherry.

Budget:  Total Project cost – Rs. 65 crores.

Funded by: • Construction of near-shore reef is taken up under the funding from Ministry of

Earth Sciences. • Construction of offshore reef and beach nourishment is done with funding from Puducherry Government.

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PONDICHERRY SHORE

1960’s.. Beach along the Puducherry town

Late 1990’s.. Eroded and Rocky Beach

2017… New Beach Forming due to Restoration Project

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