Bahanaga: Rampant smuggling of seashell to other states from the coast of Remuna and this block in Balasore district has not only posed serious threat to the casuarinas forest, but also triggered resentment among local environment lovers, according to a report.
The traders of other states collect the shells from the coast leading to erosion of sand and earth on the beach. The casuarinas planted over a long stretch on the coast eventually get uprooted after being hit by high tides following soil erosion and affect the environment adversely, alleged locals.
The traders and their brokers engage local fishermen to collect shells from the seashore of Villaadia, Kherang, Rupakhand, Madnapur, Ataspur under Bahanaga tehsil and sea mouth at Talapada under Remuna tehsil.
While the poor fishermen and their families get something around Rs 20 per each gunny bag of seashells, the traders make nearly Rs 15,000 from a truckload of shells, it was learnt.
Revenue department generally leases out some coastal areas under Talapada and Bahanaga blocks for shell collection by the traders. However, the administration has not floated tender for the last two years.
This has helped the traders who collect the shells without any restriction causing lakhs of rupees of loss to the state exchequer. They have so far taken away more than 10 tonnes of shells, estimated some environmentalists.
As seashells are made primarily of calcium carbonate, small sized shells are used to make lime while the bigger ones are used for preparation of poultry feed and other household items. Due to its commercial use, traders of other states have set their eyes on the coastal region of Balasore as the administration has not put any restriction on seashell collection, it was learnt.
The illegal collection of shells has weakened the roots of the casuarinas and many trees have uprooted after being hit by strong tides, said Ananta Prasad Malik of nearby Balarampur village. This has also robbed the beauty of the beach, he added.
“Unrestricted trading of shell collected from the beach would have its adverse impact on the environment,” apprehended Krutibas Beje, a teacher as well as environmentalist of Bahanaga.
Additional tehsildar Prafulla Kumar Mohapatra said the beach is leased out to shell traders. “I just came to know about such illegal activities as none alerted me earlier. I would take measures after reaching office Tuesday,” Mohapatra said. PNN
