The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Shelter-belt plantations proposed along coastline

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Friday, Dec 28, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Shelter-belt plantations proposed along coastline

Special Correspondent

They will help reduce impact of natural calamities

CHENNAI: The State Forest Department has proposed to implement the shelter-belt plantation programme on private lands along the Tamil Nadu coastline, C.K. Sreedharan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), said here on Thursday.

Briefing reporters about the successful implementation of the Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Programme (ETRP), Mr. Sreedharan said the Department planted casuarina and other species along the coastline covering 13 districts during the past two years.

In the second phase, it proposed to take up the planting on private lands.

The department would plant casuarina and other species on 1,000 hectares.

Vulnerable areas

The coastal areas of Tamil Nadu are prone to natural disasters such as cyclones, and had salt-laden wind. Erosion along the coastline was very high. The shelter-belt plantations would act as bio-shields and help reduce the impact of natural calamities, Mr. Sreedharan said.

The PCCF said the department started the programme in 2005 under the ETRP and continued it for two years. During the period, casuarina and other species were planted on 4,778 hectares along the coastline at a cost of Rs.21 crore.

While 90 per cent of the plantations were casuarina, the remaining species were poovarasu, punnai, pungan, aal, arasu, odhiyan and baadam.

In areas such as Muthupet, Pichavaram, Ramanathapuram and Kodiakarai, the department had taken up a mangrove restoration programme, which achieved 85 per cent success, Mr. Sreedharan said. After the tsunami, the villagers had realised the importance of bio-shield species such as mangrove.

Other works

Community development programmes such as providing fish drying unit for hamlets, improving road conditions, providing basic amenities such as water and bathroom facilities for the villages were some of the other works the department had taken up for villages along the coast, Mr. Sreedharan added.

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