Collapse of Sand Spit at the Kalu River Mouth in Kalutara, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Kalutara is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province in Sri Lanka. It is located in approximately 40km south of the capital Colombo. This area is very famous for the Kalutara Bodhiya Temple and a long sand spit formed at the entrance of the Kalu River. These two places are the symbols of Kalutara city and very attractive destinations both for domestic and international tourists. However, very recently, the sand spit has collapsed due to the impacts of the flood on May 26, 2017. Until present, the sand spit morphology has not recovered yet. The disappearance of the sand spit causes a big socio-economic problem not only to the salinity intrusion further upstream of the Kalu River but also reduce the tourist attraction. Therefore, this study aims to figure out the long-term and short-term sand spit morphological evolutions after the flood of the in Kalutara. This is vital importance before making any countermeasure plans to restore the former sand spit in Kalutara,