Puri: Surging sea waves have lashed the Puri beach incessantly over the last two days ingressing up to 100 meters into land and posing a major threat to Swarga Dwara, the biggest Hindu cremation ground in the pilgrim town.
As sea waves have threatened to wash away everything on their path, nearly 100 panicky vendors have shifted their makeshift shops along the the golden beach near the crematorium in the last two days.
"We are apprehensive due to this sudden fury of the sea. It has become a threat to our business. We are shifting our makeshift shops with the sea waves crossing the shore line,” a shop owner said.
The place where shop owners usually make brisk business due to the heavy crowd of the tourists, has been washed away by the saline water. Tourists apprehend that the golden beach could vanish into the sea if such conditions continue.
"We had not observed this kind of situation during our earlier visit. We apprehend that the situation might get worse in future," a tourist said.
Taking no chances, the district administration has started preventing visitors from entering the sea in that particular area.
It is also considering roping in experts to study the phenomenon. "The district administration is well aware about it. We will take experts' advice to prevent the erosion," Sub-collector Madhusudan Das said.
Notably, a similar surge of sea waves had washed away the marine drive road near Baliapanda in 2007.