The Chilika wildlife division has launched a casuarina plantation drive along Chilika Lake to ensure steady firewood supply for the kitchen of the Jagannath temple and Swarga Dwara, Puri’s sacred crematorium.
The plantation will also act as a natural shield against cyclones.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Amlan Nayak told The Telegraph: “Local people are being involved in the drive. Nearly 1.5 lakh seedlings will be planted. Law minister Prithviraj Harichandan launched seedling distribution vans to gram panchayats in Balugaon. The drive will be held on September 17, the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under the plan Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam (One Tree in the Name of the Mother). We will take care of the saplings for three years.”
On the same day, the government plans to plant 75 lakh saplings of different varieties across Odisha.
Nayak said: “We are cutting trees in a planned manner, clearing space and planting new saplings. The wood is sent to the temple kitchen and used as firewood.”
The temple kitchen, which never uses gas, prepares Mahaprasad daily for about 50,000 people, and nearly one lakh on special occasions.
At Swarga Dwara, about 60 to 80 cremations are performed every day. The crematorium draws families from across and outside the state. The state government provides around 1.5 quintals of casuarina wood per cremation. Though cow-dung cakes were once considered as an alternative, the idea was dropped after public objection.
Nayak said: “We cut casuarina trees after 10 years under a scientific method and send them to Puri. Casuarinas are also the first line of defence against cyclones. During Fani in 2019, they slowed the storm and saved lives in Puri, Khurda and other coastal districts.”
The 2019 cyclone devastated Puri, uprooting thousands of trees, but the casuarina belt reduced the impact.
Officials said casuarinas help combat erosion, sequester carbon, enrich soil by fixing nitrogen, support biodiversity, and provide fast-burning, high-calorific firewood.