Bhubaneswar, June 13: Authorities of Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district have removed encroachments on 15 acres of government land on the fringe of the mangrove forest.

"Mangrove forest regeneration will be taken up on evicted land," said assistant conservator of forest Pradosh Patnaik today, adding that the plantation would begin within a week.

Mangrove generation is being taken up vigorously, as these species are considered cyclone barriers. The coastal belt in Kendrapara and neighbouring Bhadrak and Jagatsinghpur districts are prone to frequent cyclones. This belt was ravaged by the super cyclone in 1999 and before that in 1971.

"Residents of nearby villagers are beginning to realise that mangrove is a time-tested natural barrier against tidal surge and cyclones," said Patnaik. The encroached patches were freed from encroachment and 15 illegal prawn ponds, each measuring an acre, were demolished during the eviction drive.

Forest officials said land freed from encroachers was conducive to mangrove regeneration because of regular inflow of tidal waters.

The state forest department has registered cases against the encroachers under Coastal Regulation Zone Act.

Officials claimed that the department had succeeded in regenerating mangrove forests on 300 hectares of denuded area during the last two years. Prawn mafia had earlier ravaged these forests.

Forest officials said the department was ready with funds sanctioned under the Management Action Plan for Mangroves and Integrated Coast Zone Management Plan for mangrove regeneration. The scheme will be extended to other deforested areas in phases.

A task force comprising senior and experienced forest officials has been constituted to ensure effective implementation of the eviction drive and the mangrove regeneration programme. Besides, public awareness is being generated on mangrove protection, a forest official said.