Depleted mangrove cover makes Orissa
coast vulnerable to killer storms
Debi Pattnaik in Bhubaneswar
Rapid depletion of mangrove forests which once dotted the entire coastline and hinterland of Orissa is being cited as the main reason for cyclones lashing the coast at regular intervals.
Ecologists have several times in the past warned that the Orissa coast was heading for a major disaster. The warning was first issued in the 1970s when a severe cyclonic storm battered the coast claiming more than 10,000 lives.
Despite the hue and cry from all quarters at that time, the mangrove forests, which act as a buffer between the sea and the hinterland, continued to be exploited. The October 29 super cyclone has once again reminded the people of the warnings that have been ignored.
According to Sea Coast Movement leader and noted environmentalist
Banka Behari Das, the recent cyclone surpassed in magnitude the destruction wrought by the earlier cyclones.
Remote-sensing pictures taken by Salyut-7 during the '70s revealed that every year nearly 2.5 square km of mangrove vegetation was being lost to human development.
Rise in population, a mad scramble for land for paddy cultivation and large-scale prawn cultivation on the encroached land were cited as some of the reasons for this destruction.
Till 1940, the entire Mahanadi delta was covered by mangroves. Today, islands such as Hukitola, Jambu, Rajnagar, Kharanasi, Batighar and Jogidhanpur wear a denuded look.
In 1940s the then zamindar of Burdwan purchased the Kujang area and then disposed of nearly 12,000 hectares of mangrove forest for cultivation to people from Midnapore in West Bengal.
Subsequently, more than 2,500 hectares of mangrove forests were destroyed in the 1960s when Paradip port was constructed. Soon after the port became operational, a large portion of the mangrove forest completely disappeared in the Paradip-Dhamra belt. This area has since emerged as the most cyclone-prone zone.
According to official sources, out of the total 200 sq km of mangrove forest in the Mahanadi delta, only about 30 sq km is left.
The Orissa government had launched a massive drive to develop a shelter belt-cum-wind break plantation along the coast. However, all efforts were concentrated in areas that were marked by well-drained coastal soil, leaving the swamps open to encroachment by paddy and
prawn cultivators.
The planners also ignored the role of mangrove forests as a buffer against cyclones. As a result, no efforts were made to restore lost mangrove cover.
Environmentalists say neither the state government nor bureaucrats visualised the importance of mangrove conservation.
The last survey conducted by the Botanical Survey of India indicated that the state had just 225.75 sq km of mangrove forests left. However, forest officials claim that the total mangrove area in the state would not exceed 150 km, of which the Bhitarkanika sanctuary alone accounts for nearly 120 sq km.
UNI
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