KENDRAPARA: Unchecked growth of prawn farms and release of untreated effluent from those farms into nearby agriculture lands have rendered several acres of fertile lands useless in many coastal villages.
To check the illegal practice and protect the agriculture lands from destruction, the Fisheries department has decided to rely on mapping brackish aquaculture in the coastal pockets of the State.
The department had also sought the help of Odisha Space Application Centre (ORSAC) recently for mapping brackish aquaculture. The data will be utilised to detect aquaculture areas, navigational channels, creeks and protected areas in the coastal regions. “We will only allow shrimp culture within 1 to 2 km radius in coastal pockets after the mapping.
The remote sensing data would also be used to locate suitable sites for brackish aquaculture in the State so as not to disrupt the environmental equilibrium of the coastal ecosystem,” said Pratap Rout, Joint Director, Fisheries Department (Marine) on Tuesday. “We will not allow shrimp farms beyond 2 km from high-tide lines to restrict unchecked growth of prawn firms,” Rout said.
Farmers cultivating shrimp without registering with Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) are liable to be imprisoned for three years and levied a fine of up to `1 lakh. It was mandatory for all shrimp farms to be registered under the provisions of Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act (AAA) and Rules, 2005. The AAA requires registration of all shrimp farms lying on either side of rivers, creeks and canals. Shrimp farms not registered were liable for demolition, Rout added.
“We have started work by using remote sensing data to identify brackish aquaculture within 2 km from high tide lines of the 480 km-long coastline in the State under the Coastal Mapping of Aquaculture Project. It would be completed in 2019. Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat have already prepared map of aquaculture,” said Prasanna Kumar, a senior scientist of ORSAC. Satellites would be used to take pictures which will be superimposed on each other to get the final map, Kumar added.
The forest officials will also use satellite data for mapping brackish aquaculture to detect the legal and illegal shrimp farms in Chilika, Bhitarkanika National Park, Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary and other coastal areas of the State, said Sandeep Tripathy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).
Three years back, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had declared 192 villages around Bhitarkanika National Park as Eco-Sensitive Zones to prevent ecological damage caused due to developmental activities around Bhitarkanika, said Bimal Prasan Acharya, Divisional Forest Officer of Bhitarkanika.