BHUBANESWAR: After the state government planned a massive plantation drive called ‘Five Year Action Plan on Revival of Coastal Shelter Belt and Afforestation Programme’, experts have called for diligence in its execution.
Under the programme, Rs 200 crore will be spent in the coastal districts of Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack where plantation will be done in an area of 8000 hectares. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed the officials to take up the drive in a mission mode. Orissa Post interacted with various experts to delve deeper into the subject.
Retired director of National Academy of Broadcasting and Multimedia Bhubaneswar Dipak Samantrai said, “The green cover of the twin city, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, was badly hit by the Super Cyclone of 1999. A lot of efforts and planning stretched over two decades had managed to retrieve it to a great extent. Phailin, Hudhud and Titli have had limited impact and hence negligible destruction. But Fani is a different story altogether.
“It has wiped out trees of the Twin City mercilessly, and is comparable with the Super Cyclone in this respect. We have gone back twenty years. A massive all out effort is required to recover the losses. Let’s remember that we have lost seeds and saplings too. Most of the nurseries, government and private, have suffered badly. So getting the saplings for plantation in July and August is going to be a big challenge. We have to outsource largely. There seems to be no other way out,” he added.
V P Upadhyay, Adviser Rtd, MoEFCC, said, “Countering climate change at the local level will be through greening the land as more plants means more sequestration of carbon(CO2) which can halt atmospheric warming. A massive plantation drive needs in-depth knowledge of ecology. Any plant cannot be planted anywhere. Therefore we have to pin point potential, natural and native species.”
“The location of planting is important. If the area has hot climate, we should prefer evergreen species and not deciduous ones. Similarly on median of roads we plant short height plants. Exotic species should not be planted as these affect the biodiversity of insects and birds which have survived on local plants,” he added.
Biswajit Mohanty, chairman, Greenpeace India, said, “Recovery of the green cover of Bhubaneswar will not be easy as most large tree species take at least 6 to 7 years to achieve decent growth height. Forest deptt and BMC should consult experts before planting for proper selection of species. Multi utility trees should be chosen.”
Nidhi Sinha