KARAIKAL: Amid the formidable memories of loss and devastation that the 2004 tsunami wreaked, floats the tide of hope that individuals and organisations have been riding to aid the affected areas for the last two decades. Restoration efforts continue in Karaikal, one of the worst-affected regions, with the Nature Environment Wildlife Society (NEWS) as one of the small cogs in the wheel.
Karaikal is a coastal district, where people in rural areas primarily depend on agriculture and fishing. Apart from washing away livelihoods of the locals, the tsunami also laid bare the district’s shoddy defences against natural calamities. As per the Puducherry government, at least 492 people died, over 17,000 were displaced, and thousands rendered homeless. Around 2,000 acres of crops were also affected.
The UT government, like its Tamil Nadu counterpart, realised the need for a protective shield for the coastal villages. Planting mangrove forests along coastal villages is one of the solutions. This is where NEWS comes in. Founded in 1991, NEWS is based in Kolkata, and engaged in conservation of endangered species and protecting the coast. The non-profit organisation set up its branch in Karaikal in 2022, and has been running the show with a team of three.
Neenu Purushothaman, Project Manager at NEWS (Karaikal), tells TNIE, “Mangroves provide habitat and nursery grounds for marine life. They also serve as natural buffers against coastal erosion and storm surges, protecting coastal communities and infrastructure. However, they face numerous threats like deforestation, pollution, and climate change-induced habitat loss.” With encouragement from the Puducherry Forest and Wildlife Department and support from ONGC’s Cauvery Asset, NEWS is now planting mangrove trees and building a community that safeguard these natural barriers.
“We have planted around 27,000 saplings and sowed 12,000 seedlings of mangroves at Karukalacherry village in the district in the past two years. We are also working towards conserving them,” Neenu Purushothaman adds. Despite being low on manpower, NEWS went on, consolidating students and locals into a large pool of volunteers.
The planting of mangrove saplings, for instance, were taken up by students of Arignar Anna Government Arts College and Avvaiyar Government College for Women after the NEWS sensitised them about the significance of mangroves.
The volunteers crossed the bogs and waded through the marshes to plant the saplings in the first plantation drive in January 2023. Similarly, local fisherfolk women from the self-help groups Ilanthendral and Vanmazhai were also roped in to help with planting saplings and seedlings.
Earlier, local fishers were not aware of mangroves. Viewing them as any other weed, they would simply uproot those, which would mostly be newly-planted ones. This would result in a setback. The NEWS then explained the significance of mangroves in the district. The result? The fishers carried the saplings in FRP mechanised boats across the Mullaiyar channel, and planted along stretches.
In 2023, plants from the nurseries were transplanted. But that was only the beginning of their struggles.
Over the next few months, thousands of the saplings were left displaced or wasted due to natural causes such as upstream river surges, and human intervention such as indiscriminate inland fishing. Invasive plants also hindered the distribution of nutrition. The situation was exacerbated by rampant waste disposal in waterbodies.
The team was left distraught over the next few months. The authorities became doubtful about the scope of the initiative. “But, we did not give up. We removed the waste plants and re-planted seedlings. They also increased awareness levels among locals,” said Abhishek, another NEWS team member.
After months of combined herculean efforts and starting from scratch by NEWS and its student volunteers, the mangrove trees stand six-foot tall, while some others are four feet. Encouraged by the progress, NEWS is planning to plant more mangrove tree saplings in the coming year.
“Our hearts are full. We are hopeful that the trees will stand strong and protect our village against disastrous natural calamities in future,” said M Malliga, from ‘Ilanthendral’ SHG in Karukalacherry. District Forest Officer N Viji said the Puducherry government understands the importance of mangroves. “We have earlier planted some mangroves as part of government schemes. We also support organisations like NEWS to expand afforestation.”
(Edited by Shrija Ganguly)