Auroville’s Disappearing Beaches

Abstract

On February 28th 1968, the town of Auroville was solemnly funded in India with the aim of searching for solutions to humanity’s most pressing questions. Over the past 50 years the heavily eroded area has undergone exemplary landscape rejuvenation and a small town has been formed with 3000 residents from 54 countries of the world. National governments, international organizations and universities support and observe the development of this experiment. The majority of Auroville’s land is a few km away from the Coromandel Coast, but there are a few shoreline settlements that serve as centers for recreational and beach activities. In recent years the coast has undergone rapid erosion which has washed away beaches and buildings, and despite attempts to minimize this it is an ongoing process. Investigation suggests that the new port development in Pondicherry, a few km south of Auroville, is the main cause of the destruction. As the shores disappeared the groundwater became salinized. The primary sufferers of the change are those in coastal settlements: resorts and fishing villages. The affected coastline extends across the borders of two states: Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, and constructive proposals are often lost in political battles. In my research paper, which is based on interviews and literature analysis, I aim to outline the situation. I describe the attempts that were made to stop the destruction and to initiate cooperation of local stakeholders within the various layers of society, and to target the decision makers at state and national level.