As many as eight coastal villages in Kakinada district are facing the problem of sea erosion. Waves have swallowed 1360.75 acres of land, mainly from the four villages of Komaragiri, Subbampeta, Kothapalli and Uppada.
Whenever the sea turned rough, it targets these four villages. Hundreds of houses, two guest houses, some ancient Vaishnava and Shiva temples and other heritage buildings have disappeared due to a steady rise in the levels of an aggressive sea. The Uppada coast is offering livelihood to thousands of people.
But, the offensive of the sea has come as a curse to many villages in the coastal area. According to statistics from the Land and Survey Records Department, 1360.75 acres of land was swallowed by the sea in 8 villages.
The government issued notification for a survey of Uppada coast in 1948. The survey was completed in 1956 when 84 acres of land was submerged in the sea in a span of eight years. Later, in a span of six and half decades, more than 1360 acres of land was affected due to sea erosion.
Land is getting merged into the sea every year. During the 2004-09 period, when Kakinada MP MM Pallam Raju was Union Minister, a Geotube wall was constructed to protect the coast. It has helped to an extent.
But due to non-maintenance of the wall and negligence of the people of Uppada, the wall has also been damaged. After the alliance government came to power in the state this June, deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan took the initiative to protect the Uppada coast f.