Bhubaneswar: In a bid to protect coastal villages from storm surge during cyclone, the state government has planned to strengthen the coastline by creating saline embankments.
The Water Resources department is preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for strengthening of 480-km long coast and 1,650-km long saline embankments in the state. About Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 crore would be spent for this purpose, said department engineer in chief Jyotirmaya Rath here Saturday.
In the first phase, measures will be taken for the construction of a 380-km-long saline embankment at a cost of Rs 1,944 crore with stone packing and plantation drive on the coastline, Rath said.
Coastline of districts like Ganjam, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Puri will be taken up in this phase, he said.
Meanwhile, as per the decision of Cabinet, the Forest and Environment department has been renamed as Forest, Environment and Climate Change department.
The department will now focus on climate change along with forest and environment protection and conservation and act as the nodal agency of state for climate change actions.
The department will also prepare State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) along with other plan, policy, programmes, project on climate actions and implementation plan in line with the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), 2015.
The action plan will be prepared keeping in view watershed management, coastal zone planning and regulation, fisheries and animal resources development, forestry management, agricultural technologies and practices, transport and health programmes.
The department will also play a lead role in reduction of Green House Gas Emission (GHG) through conservation and enhancement of energy efficiency, with coordination with line departments and organizations.
Formulation of policies for promotion of non-conventional alternative sources of energy like solar energy and wind energy will also be dealt by the new department.
PNN