Alappuzha: The sea receded nearly 25 metres along the Purakkad coast here on Sunday morning, the second such instance in the past two weeks. The unusual phenomenon occurred around 10 am at Purakkad junction.
“This time, the sea receded only at a small section at Purakkad junction,” said Fasil E, the ward member.

Kerala State Disaster Management Authority said there was no need to panic. “We found nothing alarming when our team inspected the area this morning. It’s a usual phenomenon in the region. Earlier, we witnessed the sea receding once or twice every year. However, there has been an increase in such instances,” said Kerala State Disaster Management Authority member secretary Dr Sekhar Lukose Kuriakose. 

A team from the Fisheries department too had earlier submitted a report to the district collector, ruling out the possibility of a tsunami. 

On March 19, panic spread among the people residing along a two-km stretch of Purakkad region after they noticed the sea receding by 50 meters, just like what happened on December 26, 2004, shortly before the tsunami.

This time, the local fishermen are more hopeful that the formation of mud bank points to, what is locally known as, 'chakara', a unique marine occurrence characterised by the gathering of numerous fish and prawns.

However, Purakkad panchayat president A S Sudarshan warned that the increase in the number of such instances might be a sign of climate change. “The water recedes first and then the waves pound the shores. This is not a one-off phenomenon and a similar episode happened in Poonthala and Karoor. This change should be viewed seriously,” he said.