BALASORE: Residents living along the coastal areas of Bhograi block in Balasore district have expressed discontentment over the alleged lackadaisical attitude of the Forest and Irrigation departments towards the protection of casuarina forests and embankments along the sea.
Due to the depleting forest cover and embankment repair, ingress of saline water into farmlands has caused significant crop damage each year, affecting the livelihoods of those dependent on farming, they said. The embankment has also collapsed in some areas due to high tides and inadequate stone packing.
Residents said the Forest department used to plant casuarina saplings along the seashore every year, and the Irrigation department would repair the embankment to safeguard the trees. However, in recent years, not a single casuarina sapling has been reportedly planted along the coast. This is despite the fact that cyclone Phailin, Amphan, and Titli, besides the unlawful felling of casuarina trees by smugglers, have contributed to the erosion of the shoreline.
People from Sahabajipur, Hooghly, Gochhida Teghari, Sradhapur, Kanthibhaunri, Narayan Mohanty Padia, and Kumbhirgadi gram panchayats have time and again drawn the attention of officials concerned and demanded permanent measures for embankment and the protection and plantation of casuarina trees. But no action has been taken.
They expressed concerns about smugglers felling casuarina trees and supplying them to other states. This has turned a 16-kilometre stretch of the coast, from Udaipur to Kirtania, into a desert. The Balasore Irrigation department had proposed the construction of an 85-kilometre-long high-level protection wall from Udaipur to Chandipur, resembling a marine drive, which will serve as a tourist destination. However, the state government is yet to take a call on the proposal.
A senior officer from the Balasore Irrigation Department stated that the Water Resources Department has advised repairing the embankment only when necessary. Contacted, Balasore DFO Khuswant Singh suggested that residents of these coastal areas should present their casuarina sapling plantation proposal to the officers in the concerned range, and appropriate steps will be taken accordingly.