Report To Vohra Committee

APPENDIX-I (Part of final report on SLR due to GHE submitted to the MoEF, GOI) No.Vik/SLR/12/92 April 23, 92 NOTE SUBMITTED TO THE VOHRA COMMITTEE BY DR.THRIVIKRAMJI,KP, PROFESSOR, DEPT. OF GEOLOGY, UNIV. OF KERALA, KARIAVATTOM CAMPUS 695 581

I propose the following points for your consideration, while drafting the regulations for establishment of infrastructure, especially while siting of land for construction of hotels to promote tourism in the country. 1. All seaside resorts sited and established in the past without due consideration to coastal geomorphology, bathymetry of the adjoining inner shelf, and wave climate have been threatened by the serious problem of erosion of the adjoining beaches. Sometimes the erosion was so extensive that very ad hoc and extensive protective measures were warranted, which ultimately turned out to be eroding the esthetic appeal of the setting. Many such examples do exist in different parts of the world. The beach front developments in Miami, Fa; Ocean city, Maryland; and scores of breach front hotels in Australia have become classroom examples. Alongside the insurance costs have also steeply gone up. While new regulations are drawn up, we should force ourselves to learn from past mistakes of ours and others in order to avoid repeating them over again. 2. In Kerala, the coastal land zone has variable relief, based on which Thrivikramji (1992) recognizes two categories of coastal land, viz., high coastal land (HCL) of >7.5 m from m.s.l. or higher (e.g., Kovalam Resort near Trivandrum) and low coastal land (LCL) of <7.5 m or lower (e.g., Malabar Hotel, Kochi and Pathiramanal, an island in Vembanad kayal). The facilities built in the HCL are relatively very safe in comparison with those in the LCL. I wish to propose that permission be granted only to those who can strictly adhere to the following stipulations. 3. The new regulation shall insist that in the LCL, an esplanade of at least 500 m. landward of hhwl must be set apart as a buffer area. This is warranted by the fact that the high waterline oscillates with an amplitude of anywhere between 20-50 m during the SW monsoon season in many parts of Kerala. Further our work in respect of the sealevel rise due to GHE demonstrated that the LCL of Kerala will be severely threatened by coastal flooding. In many places the shoreline may advance to 300 to 800 m. We also have pointed out that in many sectors the NH-47 and KayamkulamAlappuzha rail line will be threatened by flooding due to storm surges. In any perspective planning, due weightage needs to be given to such impending potential and real threats. 4. Though the lagoonal islands, the prime spots for tourists to escape or vanish, are potential locations for tourist hotels or lodges, I would argue that such sites shall not be opened up for the sake of tourism. The pristine nature of such small island ecosystems needs conservation for the posterity. More over these small islands are the ones that will vanish in the event of sea level rise. 5. There is a geomorphologic coincidence of curved or arc shaped shore line (like a bay) and coastal highlands in Kerala. In fact, it is largely true in respect of other littoral states of India. The highlands (and occasionally headlands) are made of harder and older rocks in comparison with

younger sediments in the lowland, which is easily revealed in a SOI toposheet or a satellite image. I recommend the highlands adjoining the arc like bays as future potential sites for hotels and resorts. 6. It is my informed belief that if such guide lines are followed while developing faculties and infrastructure for tourism, the capital cost of future sealevel-rise-defense structures and systems can be kept at a bare minimum and with out any harm to the tourism industry as such. So the natural beauty of the coastal setting will continue to stay with its pristine .look to serve the tourists of tomorrow and ever after. Dr. Thrivikramji.K.P. Dept. of Geology Univ. of Kerala, Kariavattom 695 581