How to bring back a lost beach? A citizen's group in Puducherry (Pondicherry) shows the way.

As much as 45% of India’s 8,414-km long coastline is facing erosion*.
57% of Puducherry's coastline faces erosion. This is the second-highest in the country. Developmental activities without properly understanding the coastal dynamics are the prime reason for this accelerated erosion.
*Study published in Indian Academy of Science’s journal Current Science

In the case of Puducherry, it was the Harbour construction in 1989 which disturbed the littoral drift and caused the beach to disappear. Littoral drift aka Longshore drift is the movement of sedimental particles from one part of the beach to the other under the prevailing wind direction. The harbour construction disrupted the littoral drift in the pondicherry beach and resulted in the erosion of sand on the northern side of the beach and deposition on the northern side. Thus by the late 90s, the coastal town of Puducherry lost its pristine beach.
It took years to spot the problem that caused the beach to disappear. It was only in 2007 when a proposal for a second port came up, that the people realised the impact of the harbour built-in 1989. The Citizens of Pondicherry realised that history must not be repeated. They formed an action council to prevent the new port's construction and restore their once lost beach. Thus the story of Pondy Citizen’s Action Network aka PondyCAN began.
In 2007, A court case was filed against the port with the assistance of PondyCAN
And after 6 years of prolonged legal wrangling, in 2013, the port project was shelved. PondyCAN also pushed for the restoration of the lost beach.
In 2017, India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences and the National Institute of Ocean Technology agreed to implement the beach reconstruction project.
The solution was twofold.
The first was to revert the drenched sand back to the eroded beach to make the beach appear again. the next was to design a unique engineering solution (artificial reef) to act as a speed breaker and protect the fast-paced erosion on the newly formed beaches.
Today, nearly 4.5km of the total 10km of the lost beach is back. Both the tourists and residents are equally excited about Pondicherry promenade’s return. The next step is to extend the beach 10km to the north up until Auroville. When the project is complete, Pondicherry will regain it's long shoreline once again.

Additional Credits:
Illustrations/ Voice Over: Aishwarya Iyer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------