River Princess caused sand erosion: Parulekar
PTI, PANAJI | 12 July 2012 21:46 IST

One of the important beaches located alongside Candolim village in Goa has lost the tourism potential due to erosion as a result of a giant ship that was grounded there for over a decade.
Although the state government managed to dismantle and take away M/V River Princess, the beach stretch has been damaged displacing the shacks and other tourism related activities, since the ship was grounded there in 2000.
State Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar told the Legislative Assembly today that water resources department has floated tenders for the protection of the beach at Candolim and it's accretion.
Some sand nourishment will also be taken up for beach formation and to improve the bathymetry of the coastline, he said.
The ship was dismantled and ferried away as scrap from Candolim shore.
The minister said District Collector Mihir Vardhan has carried out an assessment of damages caused to the environment due to River Princess.
The report mentions that due to the presence of the huge ship, the beach stretch was severely eroded by constant bashing of the waves due to which sand dunes were washed away thereby forming cliffs of more than 4 to 6 meters in height, that were collapsing.
"Since the sand dunes, which were forming a sort of protective cover, were washed away, the properties along the beach were severely affected by the sea erosion," the report, tabled on the floor of the House, said.
The disastrous effects of the vessel on the land are difficult to quantify in terms of financial losses, particularly the adverse effects on the tourism industry, the report said.
"The enormous amount of public beach lost has definitely had a negative impact on the tourism in Candolim and Sinquerim beaches as is evident from the fact that the hotels located on the beaches, especially the five star ones have reported reduced occupancy," it mentioned.
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