Coastal
Regulation Zone of Tuticorin District:
Geographic Location:
Tuticorin
district coast extends from Vembar to south of Manappad. Geographically it is
located between 8° 9'00''-9° 7'30'' N latitude and 78° 2'30''-78° 25'00''E longitude.
This district covers an area of 4,621sq.km.
Fig: Coastal
Regulation Zone Information of Tamil Nadu : Tuticorin District
Physiography:
There are
two physiographic features in the coast of Tuticorin district. That is in the
coastal belt between Vembar to Thiruchendur, there are raised beaches with sand
bars parallel to the present coastline. The sand bars are trend towards north
to south direction. In the coastal area between Thiruchendur to Manappad , there
are sanddune and terridune complexes.
Geology:
The stretch
comprises mainly of Archeans
Quaternary and recent geological formations.
Geomorphology:
The
following coastal geomorphologic features commonly occur in the coast.
- Beach
-
Beach ridges
- Cliffed
coast.
- Sand
dunes
- Beach
Terraces
- Spits
- Caspates
- Salt
marsh
- Terrisand
The
coast line from Vembar to Tiruchendur is developed by sediment accretion except
for the Thiruchendur and Manappad which have cliffed coast resulting from erosions
of mounds of Quaternary sediments. South of Tuticorin, near the mouth of Korampallam
odai, huge sand bar has developed into a northward trending beach cap 4km from
the main shore. The south of Tiruchendur coastline is marked by a narrow beach,
beyond which extends the coastal ridge from Manapadu to Kudangulam over which
sand dunes and beach terraces have developed. The quaternary sandstones are exposed
as wave cut platform the entire coast from Periyatalai to Uvari.
Distribution of Coastal Regulation Zone:
The
different coastal regulation zone class of Tuticorin District coast and their
areal extent are presented in the Table.10
Table.10. Coastal
Regulation Zone classes and their areal extent of Tuticorin District
CRZ-I
sq.km | CRZ-II
sq.km | CRZ-III
sq.km | LTL
km | HTL
km | 100m
line km | 200m
line km | 500m
line km |
76.46 |
8.81 |
76.60 |
238.97 |
355.348 |
Nil |
145.197 |
173.78 |
Natural Resources:
Water
Sedimentary
formations are traversed in coastal area, comprising of sand, clay, sandstone,
calcareous sand with shell inclusion, laterite, Archaean formation, granite gneisses,
charnockite, pegmatite and quartzite. Dug cum bore wells and shallow tube wells
are prominent in this area. The water table has been highly depleted due for extraction
of ground water for irrigation.
Mineral
This
coastal belt is rich in garnet, ilmenite and monazite sands. Near the mouth of
Kallar and Vaipar river mouths concentrations of ilmenite and garnet sands are
observed.
Flora and
Fauna
From
Surangudi to Tuticorin the sea is filled with occasional coral reefs and algal
patches. There are submerged huge rocky patches which themselves form an ecosystem
of algae, sea fans and pearl oysters. The coastal region between Vilathikulam,
Ottapidaram and Srivaikundam taluks have extensive backwater areas. From Tuticorin
to Chinnamuttam the coast is absolutely sandy and is the best nesting ground of
sea turtles.
Human Settlements:
Tuticorin
district comprises of nine-taluk viz. Tuticorin, Vilattikulam, Kovilpatti, Ottappidaram,
Srivaikundam, Tiruchchendur, Sattankulam and sankarankovil. The important occupation
of this district people is cultivation, fisheries and other marine related occupations.
The total population of this district is 14,55,920 in this 7,09,760 are males
and 7,46,160 are females.
Tourism:
Ayanar Sunai,
Panchalam Kurichi, Kazhugumalai, Ettayapuram and Tiruchendur are important tourist
spots in this district.
Industries:
This
sector of Tamil Nadu coast entails major activities such as harbour fishing, salt
production, shell fishing etc. The industrial activities include Fertilizer, Chemical
units, Heavy water Project and Thermal power Station.
Climate:
The
factors that influence the climate of this stretch are the two monsoon winds,
the proximity of sea and the dwindling height of the Western Ghats. Due to the
absence of hill ranges of considerable height, the monsoons do not precipitate
heavy showers. The southwest monsoon also brings showers in the months of June
and July and this season is locally called as Saral.