104. Formation of Barrier Spits

A barrier Spit is a coastal sandy strip of land bound by the Sea on one side and river on the other. The Bengare to Tannirbavi coastal strip west of Mangalore is a Barrier Spit. As explained in a previous post in this blog, the Bengare- Tannirbavi Barrier Spit was formed by the migration of Gurupur River in the year 1887.
However, this not the only Barrier Spit formed in the recent past history. Oral tradition preserved with the elderly people of Karavali, suggest that several Barrier Spits along the Karavali were formed in the recent past centuries, even though the exact dates are not remembered.

Mulki –Sasihitlu Spit
The Bappanad temple, Mulki, has been shifted and re-built at the present location about a couple of centuries ago. The elderly people at Mulki report that the Bappanad temple was located on the banks of Mulki River near the old port of Mulki, about half a kilometer east of the present position of the temple. At that time the merchant ships have had direct entrance to the Mulki River from the Sea.
The data suggests that the mouth of Mulki river has been shifted southwards during the recent past centuries like River Gurupur.

Hoode –Bengare Spit
Similar anecdotes are available for the Hoode-Bengare Spit in Udupi taluk where Swarna and Sita Rivers join the Sea. Oral reports from the elderly people to their young ones explain how the rivers changed their course of flow during a story monsoon.

Kapu-Udyavara Spit
One more barrier Spit exists along the Kapu-Kaipunjal–Polipu-Udyavara coast. The Udyavara River takes a northward bend parallel to the coastline forming a thin Barrier Spit that ends near Malpe. This also could have happened during the recent past like the other Spits cited above.

Time of Spit formation
Documentation of date/year of these Spit formation is important for historical as well as geo-morphological studies. It appears that this type of information is available only obscurely in oral tradition, where grandfathers/grandmothers describe the wonder of the nature to their kids.
Or it is possible that some people with sharp sense of history and documentation may have recorded the date/year and nature of such changes. Anybody having any authentic relevant information on these natural changes may kindly pass on the information to this blogger for the benefit of the society in general.
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