Mahakalapara: More than 500 cashew trees have been swallowed by the Mahanadi River due to tidal ingress along the coastal belt of Mahakalapara block in Kendrapara district. Environmental activist Subhas Swain said more than 500 of the 5,000 cashew trees along the Mahanadi near Bahakud have been lost to tidal waves.
Local bidders further alleged that no auction has been conducted in the past two years and that the forest area now shows little sign of cashew or other vegetation. According to reports, cashew plantations were raised by the Odisha State Cashew Development Corporation Ltd. in 1980 across three mouzas, namely Ramnagar (10,000 trees on 354 acre), Pitapat (5,000 trees on 182 acre) and Bahakud (about 5,000 trees on 282 acre). The plantations earlier generated lakhs of rupees in revenue annually through auctions conducted by the corporation. However, locals alleged that cashew production has declined in recent years due to air pollution caused by emissions from industries in nearby Paradip.
As a result, bidders have reportedly suffered losses and are no longer showing interest in auctions. Residents also alleged that the corporation has failed to enforce adequate security measures to protect the cashew forests in these three mouzas. They claimed that trees are being felled in broad daylight and hundreds of trips of sand are being illegally extracted, with no visible action from the administration.
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Officials of the corporation’s regional office at Chandikhole could not be contacted for comment. Mahakalapara Tehsildar Rabi Narayan Acharya said the erosion of cashew plantations along the Mahanadi has come to the administration’s notice, and that the local revenue inspector has been directed to conduct an inquiry.
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