Cyclone and Storm Surge - Iczmpwb.org

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The beaches are flattened by storm attacks and associated wave related phenomenon. The sandy
coast of Midnapore littoral tract possesses a complicated sediment regime because of the southwest
to northeast longshore drift which transports a big quantity of sand every year. This is proved by the
recorded data of Bhandari and Das (1993), which estimates an average of 100000 – 128000 m 3 per
year across different sections at old Digha beach. This sediment interacts with the downstream
discharge of the Hooghly estuarine sediments which in turn produce a circulation path of sediment
transport and modify the coastal topography along this region.
In this region, the sandy beaches are predominant, and according to Chakrabarti (2004) here the
erosion is present in the beach face of Digha-Shankarpur (Chandpur) sectors whereas accretional
phenomenon is observed in the same beach face of Dadanpatrabar-Junput area. This has been
shown in Figure 2-8. The sea face here is constantly under the threat of erosion by the impact of
ocean waves, and the higher waves lashing the shore during storm surges generated by cyclones
are of serious concern to the stability of the beaches and shoreline. There has been indiscriminate
human action leading to destabilization of the coastal zones over the past couple of decades.
Figure 2-8. The geological and morphological features of the western coastline of West Bengal
(from Chakrabarti, 2005)