mile in 20 years and is gradually enclosing the Coringa bay; and the anchorage in the bay is said to be shallowing at the rate of a foot every ten years. But a compensating process of erosion is taking place elsewhere. At Uppáda on the Pithápuram coast the land has been much encroached upon by the sea. Since 1900 over fifty yards have been swept away and the process must have been going on for many years. A ruin about half a mile out at sea still catches the fishermen's nets, and children hunt the beach at spring tides for coins which are occasionally washed up from what must be a submerged town.
As above remarked, there are two places in the district where the coal-bearing Barákar strata are found, viz., near Bedadanúru in Pólavaram division, and at Gauridévipéta in the Bhadráchalam taluk.
The Gauridévipéta field was first reported on in 1871 by Mr. W. T. Blanford, who summarized the position as follows:*[1] 'Just below Bhadráchalam the Gódávari traverses a small field of Barákar rocks about seven miles across from east to west and five miles, where broadest, from north to south. The whole area is about 24 square miles, the greater portion of which lies on the right bank of the river in the Nizam's territory. The portion of this field on the north (left) bank of the river has been thoroughly explored by boring and some coal has been found, but the quality is altogether inferior and the quantity small, the seams being thin and much mixed with shale.' An attempt to work this field was made by the Gódávari Coal Company, Limited, in 1891. The operations were not successful, as coal was not found in paying quantities, and soon after the commencement of the work a fault was encountered which made it impossible to recover the seam. The seam, moreover, was of poor quality and contained a quantity of shale.†[2] It is thought possible that better and more plentiful supplies might be found on the southern bank of the river.
The Bedadanúru field ‡[3] is the most southerly outcrop of Barákar rocks known in the Madras Presidency. It was once hoped that good coal would be found there, and extensive borings were undertaken under the superintendence of the Executive Engineer at Dummagúdem in 1874; but these resulted only in the discovery of some thin seams of very poor coaly shales, and the exploration was abandoned. The field
