File picture of a boat on the Chilika lake.

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 18: Chilika lake has earned a B grade in the first ever ecosystem health report card released by the Chilika Development Authority.

This proves that monitoring, planning and management strategies for the lake, which is among Asia’s largest brackish water lagoons, have paid off and the water body is healthy despite increased human pressure.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who is chairman of the governing body of the development authority, released the lake’s health report. The report was result of a methodology developed by National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Chennai and University of Maryland in the US. The United Nations Environment Programme supported the study.

“The ecosystem health report card is a study, which was carried out for the first time on a water body in the entire Asian continent. It is a scientific communication on the ecosystem health status of Chilika with independent studies on water clarity, dissolved oxygen level in the lake water, green matter in the water, total catch of fish, diversity of commercial fish species, bird count and diversity and the phyto-plankton species,” said Ajit Patnaik, chief executive of the development authority.

Researchers had installed censors at 10 strategic locations across the lake to monitor its health every 15 minutes.

The general body meeting that concluded yesterday also approved a proposal to carry out a study on the impact of cyclone Phailin on Chilika.

While the Bombay Natural History Society will study the changes in the behaviour of the migrant and resident bird species, the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute will study the impact on the fish diversity in the lake. The Regional Plant Resource Centre will study the microphytes — indicators of the wetland ecosystem and the KIIT School of Biotechnology and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research will conduct studies on benthos or microbial colonies and their changes after the cyclonic attack.