Kendrapara, April 29: The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), on the basis of onscreen digitisation of coastline and satellite imagery study, has pointed out that around 36.8 per cent of the state’s 480km coastline is exposed to sea erosion.

The study was conducted by the shoreline change assessment atlas of Orissa, compiled by National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management of Chennai-based Anna University. Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh today released the shoreline atlas at Gupti near the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary.

“Of the 480km long Orissa coastline, 39.3km accounting for 8.2 per cent come under high erosion zone. All sorts of construction activity, including the port building, would not be allowed to come up in the said zone,” Ramesh said while launching the integrated coastal zone management programme (ICZMP) in the state.

This assessment on the Orissa coast represents long-term shoreline change for a period of 38 years from 1972-2010.

The zones of erosion were more pronounced to the north of ports such as, Gopalpur, Paradip and Anantpur ports and to the south of Dhamra and Astranga ports, according to the study. It indicates that a stretch of Orissa’s coastline is either accreting (slow addition to land by deposition of water-borne sediment) or stable. The rest is subject to erosion.

Of the zones on which the shoreline was eroding, “high erosion” was observed at north of river mouths along the Orissa coast and on the southern part of the breakwaters of ports. The mangrove vegetation on the Mahanadi delta and the Bhitarkanika Mangrove Forest have resulted in “high accretion” (slow addition to land by deposition of water-borne sediment) areas along the coast.

Of the six coastal districts, possessing key infrastructure and ecologically sensitive patches, sea erosion is dominant in the coastal districts of Puri and Jagatsinghpur while shoreline accretion is a dominant feature in Ganjam, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore, according to the shoreline study.

Owing to the presence of mangrove vegetation, the coastal districts of Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore accounted for accretion of 50 per cent of the coast. The coast is protected by riprap and other structures in the coastal districts of Jagatsinghpur and Balasore.

Erosion was found dominant on the southern side of river mouths while accretion was observed north of the river mouths. River mouths such as, Subranarekha, Bansgarh and Balijohri, showed high erosion phenomena in the north. High accretion was observed south of river mouths such as, Devi, Gamai, Kantiachara, Nunia, Panchpara and Subarnarekha. This indicates that shoreline change was very dynamics along the mouth of rivers, suggesting that the inflow pattern determined the nature of shoreline.

Kendrapara, April 29: It’s a sort of warning bells against the unregulated spurt in human interference and construction activity like port building along the Orissa’s shoreline.

The ministry of environment and forests (MOEF) on the basis of onscreen digitization of coastline and satellite imagery study has pointed out that over one-third of the state shoreline is exposed to varying degree of sea erosion.

Around 36.8 percent of state’s 480 km coastline is bearing the brunt of erosion, according to the shoreline change assessment atlas of Orissa, compiled by National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management of Chennai-based Anna University.

The shreline atlas was released by union minister for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh at Gupti near Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary today.

“Of the 480 km long coastline in Orissa, 39.3 kilo metre accounting for 8.2 percent comes under high erosion zone. All sort of construction activity including the port building would not be allowed to come up in the said vulnerable coastal zone”, union minister Ramesh said while launching the integrated coastal zone management programme (ICZMP) in the state.

This assessment on the Orissa Coast represents long-term shoreline change for a period of 38 years from 1972-2010.

It could be observed that zones of erosion were more pronounced to the north of ports such as Gopalpur, Paradip and Anantpur Ports and to the south of Dhamra and Astranga Ports, according to the assessment study.

The assessment, however, indicates that a major stretch of Orissa's coastline is either accreting (slow addition to land by deposition of water-borne sediment) or stable. The rest is subject to erosion.

Precautions would have to be maintained in future prior to erecting any further structures along the eroding and vulnerable coastal stretches of Orissa

Of the zones on which the shoreline was eroding, 'high erosion' was observed at north of river mouths along the Orissa coast. High erosion was also observed on the southern part of the breakwaters of ports, where such coastal engineering structures have greatly altered the natural shoreline movement.

The existing mangrove vegetation on the Mahanadi delta and the Bhitarkanika Mangrove Forest have resulted in 'high accretion' (slow addition to land by deposition of water-borne sediment).areas along the coast.

Of the six coastal districts, possessing key infrastructures and ecologically sensitive patches, sea erosion is dominant in the coastal districts of Puri and Jagatsinghpur while shoreline accretion is a dominant feature in Ganjam, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore, according to the shoreline study.

Due to the presence of dense mangrove vegetation, the coastal districts of Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore accounted for accretion of 50 percent of the coast. The coast is protected by riprap and other structures in the coastal districts of Jagatsinghpur and Balasore.

Erosion was found dominant on the southern side of river mouths while accretion was observed north of the river mouths. River mouths like Subranarekha, Bansgarh and Balijohri showed high erosion phenomena in the north. High accretion was observed south of river mouths such as Devi, Gamai, Kantiachara, Nunia, Panchpara and Subarnarekha. This indicates that shoreline change was very dynamics along the mouth of rivers, suggesting that the inflow pattern determined the nature of shoreline.