The sea has devoured at least 200 metres in Lata Chapli in the beach. About 40 feet stretch of a feeder road to the beach there has been washed away and 5000 trees have disappeared in the last two years due to tidal waves and rise in the water level, local people said.

Beautiful tamarisk and slender coconut trees and shrubs that added to the beauty are no more seen at Lata Chapli. They have disappeared as tidal water has devoured big chunks of soil.

The local people said the ferocity of waves increases during the rainy season.

Concrete structures including mosques have disappeared and shopkeepers have shifted their makeshift shops away from the shoreline. Some others are trying to protest their shops by dumping sandbags.

Shopkeeper Abdul Hannan said water level during the last rainy season was higher than in the previous year.

"Every year I have to shift my shop away from the shoreline", he told this correspondent.

They said planned afforestation along the beach is needed to protect the beautiful beach from gradual erosion. The process should be started immediately because afforestation will take at least 15 years and by that time landmasses will disappear, they said.