Continued destruction of red sand dunes in Andhra sparks row

Last week, pictures and videos of excavators digging up the ecologically-sensitive red sand dunes and levelling the area and trucks carrying the red soil from the area went viral on social media as part of real estate development in the area

The continued destruction of Erra Matti Dibbalu (red sand dunes) a national geo-heritage site located on the shores of Bay of Bengal near Bheemili on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, even after the change of government in Andhra Pradesh, has triggered protests from environmentalists and also kicked up a political controversy.

Continued destruction of red sand dunes in Andhra sparks row

Last week, pictures and videos of excavators digging up the ecologically-sensitive red sand dunes and levelling the area and trucks carrying the red soil from the area went viral on social media as part of real estate development in the area, evoking strong protests from the environmentalists.

Noted environmentalist Satyanarayana Bolisetti, took to ‘X’ and sought the intervention of deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan, who holds the portfolio of environment in preventing further damage to the Erra Matti Dibbalu

“The entire area is one of the rare geological treasures of the nation. There are just two such red sand dune sites in the country. The second one is at Peri in Tamil Nadu. They need to be protected,” Bolisetti said.

Another prominent environmentalist and retired IAS officer EAS Sarma wrote a letter to chief secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad on Wednesday expressing concern over the continued destruction of the red sand dunes at Bheemili, a 17th century Dutch township.

“It is a constitutional obligation on the part of the state, under Article 49, to protect natural and cultural heritage monuments and sites of geological importance,” he said, adding that it was unfortunate that the authorities colluded with the public functionaries and real estate developers.

The issue has also taken a political turn with the opposition YSR Congress Party accusing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders and their alliance partners of destroying the geo-heritage site for real estate development.

YSRCP leader and former IT minister Gudivada Amarnath posted a selfie taken at the historical site on X and criticised that the construction work is being carried out with the support of the alliance government and local leaders. “This sets an example of how Visakhapatnam would be in alliance governance,” he posted.

Reacting to the reports on social media and local television channels, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu ordered the district authorities to see that the levelling of large tracts of land at Erra Matti Dibbalu be immediately stopped and assess the damage caused to the geo-heritage site.

On Wednesday, officials of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) and revenue department led by joint-collector K. Mayur Ashok visited the Erra Matti Dibbalu site. The authorities checked out the damage caused at the environmentally sensitive site.

The joint collector asked officials to form monitoring teams in the area and prevent all further activities on the said land. He ordered the removal of a shed on the land, which had been constructed on government land.

An official of the GVMC said Bheemunipatnam Aided Cooperative Building Society has been undertaking the levelling activity at the site and developing housing layout. The permission for taking up construction was given by the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) in April 2023.

Though the permission was given to the site outside the protected geo heritage site, the developers took up excavation even in the protected area. “Following the government’s intervention, the society relocated all construction machinery and lorries from the site,” the official said.

In fact, the works on the construction of a weaker sections colony at Nerellavalasa village on the fringes of Erra Matti Dibbalu began in July 2023 itself during the previous YSRCP government. “Hundreds of trees on the west side of Erra Matti Dibbalu have been felled to level the ground, posing a threat to the rare geological formations, dating back to more than 18,000 years ago,” Sarma said.

Meanwhile, former minister and TDP lawmaker from Bheemili Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who also visited the Erra Matti Dibbalu site on Wednesday, said the present government had not given any permission for levelling of land at the geo-heritage site. “The works have been going on for several months, much before the TDP came to power. We have ordered an inquiry by district collector into the matter,” he said.

Rao also said the government would also constitute an expert committee to study the extent of Erra Matti Dibbalu and the steps to be taken to protect them from destruction. “We shall take a decision soon in a transparent manner,” he said.

According to geologist and former professor of Andhra University, Visakhapatnam D Rajasekhar Reddy, these red sand dunes were a geological marvel unique to the coastal Andhra, spread over a length of five kilometres along the coast and a width of nearly two kilometres, located at a distance of 16 km from Visakhapatnam city.

He said the Geological Survey of India declared Erra Matti Dibbalu as a geo-heritage site in 2014 and the state government declared it as a protected area.

Reddy said research by geologists revealed that the Erra Matti Dibbalu might have been formed nearly 18,500 ago during glacial maxima period, when the sea is believed to have gone back to over 50 km away from the shore due to climatic changes, leaving vast stretches of sand dune deposits.