Abstracto

Shoreline Evolution Due To Construction of Rubblemound Breakwaters at Munambam Inlet

Christy Paul, Abilash.P.Pillai

Munambam, latitude 10 10’N, longitude 76 10’E, is a fishing village in Ernakulam district at Ernakulam- Trissur border, located between Ernakulam and Paravoor towns. This estuary is located where a branch of Periyar River joins the Arabian Sea. Chalakudy and Pullut rivers also join this branch of Periyar River. This estuary is 40 km North of Cochin Harbour and 85 km South of Ponnani Port. To develop Munumbam as a fishing harbour, two rubble mound breakwaters were constructed. This paper highlights the impacts of construction of these rubble mound breakwaters on the Munumbam geomorphology. The changes in the bathymetry of the area before and after the construction of breakwaters are studied. An attempt is made to predict the future shoreline of the area. LITPACK module of MIKE software is used for modeling the area. The results of the detailed analysis of the shoreline changes in the estuary are presented.