Chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee has stressed the need for mangroves plantations to prevent such cyclone that ravaged coastal belts South 24-Parganas, North 24-Parganas and East Midnapore districts on Saturday.
While holding a meeting with administrative officials at Kakdwip ~ one of the areas ravaged by the severe cyclone in South 24 Parganas ~ Miss Banerjee asked the administration to plant as many mangroves as possible so that it can save the coastlines like that of Sundarbans, Sagar Island and also Kolkata. She directed her officials to take help from the environment and forest departments respectively.
Meanwhile, National Green Tribunal (NGT) has already threatened to take appropriate action against those who are ‘indulging’ in rampant destructions of mangroves at Gangasagar if the committee reports are found true.
On 23 September, NGT issued an order saying, “Let a committee be constituted comprising (i) representative of Gangasagar Bakkhali Development Authority (ii) district magistrate, South 24 Parganas, (iii) representative of state Coastal Zone Management Authority (CZMA). The committee shall inspect the area in question, verify on factual aspects and submit its report.” The Statesman, on 15 August, carried a report, “Homes for landless people at the expenses of mangroves?” saying how houses under the ‘Banglar Abas’, a state government scheme, are coming up destroying hundreds of mangroves on around six acres land at Rupsagar, a tourist spot between Colony Para and Gangasagr Burning Ghat.
The NGT issued the order after environment activist Mr Subhas Dutta who is also the amicus curiae appointed by the tribunal on the Sundarbans lodged a complaint with the former alleging that the housing complex is being constructed on land that falls under the CZMA without seeking any clearance.
Mangroves help stabilise the coastlines and prevent embankment erosions from waves and storms which have been destroyed for setting up of the project.