DENTED SHIELD

Kelshi village, protected by a sand dune created by a 16th century tsunami, is under threat — of life, environment and historical heritage

Kelshi has seen the Bharja river in all its moods. Even when its waters looked dark and menacing, people in this village in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district knew the river wouldn’t hurt them. But the villagers aren’t so sure anymore. A 20-metre-long sand dune that has for centuries protected the village from the river — Bharja meets the Arabian sea some distance away — is in danger of being eroded, exposing the village and its 6,000 families to the ravages of the sea.

The sand dune, said to have formed after a 16th century tsunami, is an archeological treasure trove. But over the last two years, the state Public Works Department (PWD) chipped away at about three metres of sand from the tip of the dune to construct a road leading to the proposed Major State (Coastal) Highway No. 4 in Ratnagiri district. An uproar and a high court stay later, work is on hold but the harm has been done. A foundation of the bridge, which was to have connected Rewas and Reddy Bakale, lies unfinished on the banks of the Bharja river and the dune permanently damaged.

The PWD says no work has been carried out since April 2007, after the stay order was passed. The agency says it has realised the historical importance of the sand dune and has submitted a new plan according to which work will be shifted 15 meters away from the dune. The court is likely to deliver its verdict in six weeks.

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But archeologists say no work should have been allowed in the first place. “This area falls under Coastal Region Zone-1 (CRZ-1), which means it is extremely sensitive and has ecological importance. No construction activity is allowed here unless it’s a critical necessity. The village is three to four times below sea level and damaging the sand dune is a natural threat to the villagers,” said A. Marathe, geo-archeologist and reader at Deccan College, Pune.

But PWD officials claim that their survey showed the area to be under CRZ-3 and that construction was approved by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority. “We had submitted our plans to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZA), Urban Development Corporation and the Maritime Board and went ahead with the construction only after their clearance,” said a PWD engineer.

In 2005, when Marathe and his team were carrying out exhaustive excavations on the dunes, they discovered bones, skulls, coins, iron pieces and stones used in the 16th century. Following this discovery, Marathe and Pranav Teerth Mission, the NGO he works for, filed a case against the State of Maharashtra and construction was stayed.

Manohar Vishnu Varthak, a 77-year-old villager, alleged that the PWD had uprooted thousands of pine trees and mangroves along the coast to build the national highway. “The trees and the sand dunes are natural elements that protect the village and if they are disturbed, there is a very real danger of the village getting washed off,” he said.

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Purna Patre, another member of the Pranav Teerth Mission, said the court had ordered the environment ministry to appoint another NGO to conduct a survey of the area. “They will also check to see if the PWD has overruled CRZ norms. The high court has already passed orders to keep the bridge and road away from the existing sand dunes because of their archeological importance.”

But Varthak is scared for his family. The river does seem to be in a bad mood and the sand shield has been dented.