Bengal to plant 150 million mangrove saplings to protect from cyclones | Kolkata - Hindustan Times
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Bengal to plant 150 million mangrove saplings to protect from cyclones

Jun 08, 2021 11:27 AM IST

West Bengal planted 50 million mangrove saplings after cyclone Amphan ravaged at least 6 districts, uprooting and damaging thousands of trees in May last. In Kolkata alone, 5,000 trees were uprooted.

The West Bengal government will plant 150 million saplings of mangroves in the state’s three coastal districts as a future protection from cyclones such as Yaas and Amphan that left the coastal areas ravaged in the last 13 months.

Cyclone Yaas coincided with the perigean spring tide and the resulting storm surge devastated the 3 coastal districts in Bengal and the Sunderban delta.
Cyclone Yaas coincided with the perigean spring tide and the resulting storm surge devastated the 3 coastal districts in Bengal and the Sunderban delta.

“We will have to take the help of nature to minimise the effect of natural disasters like cyclones. The forest and environment department will plant 150 million mangrove saplings, 50 million each in three districts – North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore,” said Mamata Banerjee, the Bengal chief minister.

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The state planted 50 million mangrove saplings after cyclone Amphan ravaged at least six districts, uprooting and damaging thousands of trees in May last. In Kolkata alone, 5,000 trees were uprooted.

“This time we have suffered more damage than last year... as the cyclone coincided with the spring tide the storm surge was much higher. At least 63 villages in 14 blocks are still under water,” she said, adding that river embankments have been breached in at least 317 places.

Cyclone Yaas, which hit the Odisha coast on May 26, coincided with the perigean spring tide and the resulting storm surge devastated the three coastal districts in Bengal and the Sunderban delta. Around 5 million people live on the 54 islands of the Sunderban alone.

The state government has also formed a 24-member committee headed by Kalyan Rudra, a river expert, to suggest ways to strengthen the river embankments in the Sunderban delta. The committee will also include experts from Calcutta University, Jadavpur University, Kalyani University among other institutes. “We need a master plan,” Banerjeee said.

A similar committee formed after cyclone Amphan submitted its report in March this year. It recommended that mangrove plants, if used to form the first line of defence, may help in reducing the impact of the waves that are triggered during cyclones, thus protecting the embankments.

“There are certain deep rooted mangrove species such as Rhizophora, Bruguiera and Avicennia which may not only act as a bio-shield, but if planted on the embankments, may also help to bind the soil and make them more robust. These will take at least four to five years to grow up to the right size to protect the embankments,” said HS Debnath, former director of the Indian Botanic Garden.

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