Benaulim, Betalbatim bear brunt of annual sea erosion

COLVA: Although it is an annual occurrence during the monsoon , sea erosion along Salcete’s coastal belt — especially between Cavelossim and Betalbatim — has eaten into the shore considerably this year. The Benaulim and Betalbatim beaches are believed to be the worst affected.


While 6-ft-tall sand banks at Benaulim’s Vaddy beach have been washed away, erosion of a stretch of beach at Betalbatim has led to the uprooting of some casuarina trees.

Scientists at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) had earlier termed the phenomenon ‘wave-cutscarp’ due to the involvement of strong wave action.

There are claims that sand returns to the shore after the monsoon, but an environmentalist, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said no official study has been conducted to confirm this.

Last August, it was announced that the NIO, water resources department and the Union ministry for water resources would enter into an agreement to monitor Goa’s coast and determine its health. Chief water resources engineer Sandeep Nadkarni said the agreement was signed somewhere in May this year, but claimed that it was aimed only at monitoring the coastline. Sand erosion was a different subject, he said.