Kendrapara: Mangrove forests have withstood the ravages of cyclonic storms that have wreaked havoc in the state in the last few years, a report said. However, the ‘Green Mahanadi Mission’ launched by the Odisha government July 24, 2018 has been left in the cold. It was alleged that the mission is only in pen and paper and no work has so far been done. The programme aims at checking soil erosion on the river banks and recharging the groundwater reserve through creation of mangrove forests on 400 hectare of land and plantation of saplings on 3,500 hectare of land on the coastline and river banks of Mahanadi and its tributaries. This has come at a time when the high rise tidal waves are rapidly damaging the coastline and posing serious threat to the existence of Nashi-2, Havelikhati and Ekakula islands in the district.
On the other hand, the Geo synthetic tube wall project aimed at checking coastal erosion on Pentha coast has failed in its objective. In this context, environmentalists at a seminar on environment at Jagatijor of Mahakalapara block have opined that the damage caused by natural calamities like cyclonic storms can be minimised through creation of mangrove forests within 10km radius of the coastline. The seminar was organised by Gahirmatha Kainchha Surakshya Samiti and attended by environmentalists Nirakar Das, its secretary Hemant Kumar Rout, Ashok Kumar Swain, Prabhu Prasad Mishra and Arun Kumar Kanungo. They pointed out that the district is facing cyclonic storms almost every year. The district administration is evacuating people to safer places and providing relief to them but has failed to create mangrove forests which could have helped in protecting Kendrapara district from the ravages of the calamity.
Kendrapara district which is surrounded by Bay of Bengal in the east has a coastline of 48km stretching from Dhamra river mouth to Batighar. The district being close to sea is always prone to cyclonic storms and various natural calamities. Reports from the District Emergency department said that the cyclonic storms ‘Yash’ in May 2021, ‘Gulab’ in September, 2021 and ‘Jawad’ in December, 2021 impacted the district. Earlier, the district has also been severely affected by cyclonic storms like ‘Phailin’, Hudhud’, ‘Titli’, ‘Fani’ and ‘Amphan’.
However, each time the mangrove forests on the coastline stood as a protective wall against the ravages of the calamity. Over, 10,000 people in the state lost their lives in the high tidal waves during the Supercylone-1999. However, due to presence of the mangrove forests the district lost only 387 lives. The series of cyclonic storms forced the Odisha government to wake up and take a relook on the issue. The state government decided to implement ‘Green Mahanadi Mission’ after ‘Yash’ in 2021. The district administration is yet to identify land even though Mahanadi and its distributaries flow through the district. The mushrooming of prawn gheries is destroying the mangrove forests in the district.
Meanwhile, due to rapid erosion five revenue villages of Satabhaya have been washed away by the sea while Barahipur as the sixth village is soon going to be extinct. Contacted, ADM Pitambar Samal said the district administration is laying stress on plantation which is being executed by the Forest and Panchayatiraj departments.