Bhubaneswar: In a first of its kind in the state, Dinabandhu Sahoo, a marine scientist and senior professor at Delhi University, and Sanjukta Sahoo, a civil engineering faculty at KIIT, have deployed several ‘artificial reefs’ in the coastal waters of Odisha after several months of experimentation.
The increasing level of Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is causing climate change, the effects of which are visible all around the world in the form of rising temperature, frequent cyclonic storms in coastal areas, acidification of the ocean, loss of biodiversity, decreased fisheries productivity, and rapid degradation of ecosystems.
To address some of these challenges, the scientist duo has developed artificial reefs that can be implemented at the grassroots level in coastal villages of Odisha. “Artificial Reefs will not only increase fisheries productivity but also help in the restoration of the degraded marine ecosystem and will increase biodiversity,” said Dinabandhu, who served as the vice chancellor of FM University. Artificial reef construction and deployment is a multi-billion dollar industry and countries like the USA, France, Japan, China, Korea, and Australia have deployed millions of such reefs in their sea coasts to boost their economy.
Around the world, approximately 5,00,000 Reef Balls have been deployed in 3,400 artificial reef and beach restoration projects in more than 70 countries. “Odisha has about 480km of coastline and stands as a potential site to explore the viability. Artificial reefs with specific design and materials will not only provide habitat to several marine species, it will also reduce the wave action protecting the coast against cyclonic storms,” he said.
