BHUBANESWAR: As much as 28.3 per cent of Odisha’s coastline is affected by erosion, posing serious risk to ports, fishing harbours and other maritime infrastructure, according to a shoreline assessment conducted by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR).
The assessment, covering shoreline changes of Odisha’s coast between 1990 and 2022, found that just 17.6 per cent of the coastline remained stable while 54.1 per cent witnessed accretion.
The findings were disclosed by Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal in response to a question raised by BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra.
The assessment covered 564.14 km of coastline across six coastal districts. Jagatsinghpur recorded the highest proportion of eroding coastline at 47.6 per cent, followed by Ganjam at 45.7 per cent and Kendrapara at 45 per cent. Balasore recorded erosion along 23.8 per cent of its analysed coastline, while Puri and Bhadrak reported 10.2 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively.
The minister said that the government has identified several vulnerable stretches based on long-term shoreline changes. These include areas north of Gopalpur Port between Mayurpada and Bhramarakudi in Ganjam district, locations around the Chilika sea mouth and Devi river mouth in Puri district, Kusupur-Sahadabedi and Sahadabedi-Jatadhartanda in Jagatsinghpur district and Hetamundia, Hukitola, Pentha-Satbhaya and Satbhaya-Gahirmatha in Kendrapara district.
He informed that vulnerable stretches have also been identified at Amarnagar in Bhadrak district and Bagda, Chaumukh, Narayan Mohanty Padia and Bindhapadmapur-Talasari in Balasore district.
The minister said details of coastal protection projects sanctioned for financial support under the Sagarmala scheme are available with the government.
On climate resilience, Sonowal said all non-major ports developed or under development in Odisha are being implemented under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. Port developers and concessionaires are responsible for ensuring the safety, sustainability and climate resilience of coastal areas and port infrastructure under their jurisdictions.
Port projects are also required to obtain environmental and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances, wherever applicable. Environment Impact Assessments (EIA) and Environment Management Plans (EMP) are undertaken to identify environmental risks and prescribe mitigation measures.
For Paradip Port, a major port of Odisha, the ministry has issued dredging guidelines aimed at optimising resource use and promoting the reuse of dredged material, supporting more sustainable port development, he added.
