
Revive ‘littoral zone' to curb cyclone impact: Study
The study, 'Socio-ecological Resilience to Cyclone Vulnerability: A Study of Coastal Odisha', published this month by NIDM, an autonomous institute under the ministry of home affairs, recommends reviving the littoral zone, the interface between land and water around 3km from the coast, as a nature-based solution (NBS) to mitigate cyclones and enhance livelihoods. This includes the restoration of mangroves and casuarina trees in sandy soils.
It also suggested planting trees such as neem, karanja and jamun along the coast, as these are resistant to high-speed winds.
The study calls for strengthening climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, horticulture and fisheries to provide sustainable livelihoods. It suggests developing sectoral plans to make these sectors more resilient to climate impacts. As part of livelihood support to the affected coastal communities, it suggests the construction of more fishing harbours, mechanised boats for deep-sea fishing, and augmenting cold storage facilities to support the fishing industry and prevent migration to other states.
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The study notes that Odisha in general and coastal Odisha particularly is one of the most disaster-prone areas in the world. During the last two decades, the region encountered frequent floods, droughts and cyclones several times, and cyclones have had the most devastating effect on the lives and livelihoods of locals living along the coastline.
While there is a robust institutional arrangement and significant progress made since the 1999 Super Cyclone, there are many areas of concern for making coastal Odisha from a cyclone-vulnerable region to a cyclone-resilient region.
A household survey revealed that the majority of households had a single income source (95.1%) and were climate-sensitive in nature. Cyclones had severe impact on their livelihood. "As the income was meagre, these households did not have much savings to be used at the time of disaster. Therefore, there is a need for diversification of livelihood with an emphasis on climate-proofing these livelihoods. Efforts should be made to explore climate-neutral livelihood opportunities," the study said.
NIDM executive director Rajendra Sahoo said that the study on cyclones in coastal Odisha for the last 50 years tries to identify a trend and pattern that would help in micro-level planning to reduce the region's cyclone vulnerability.
A total of 1,301 tropical cyclonic storms generated over the Bay of Bengal during the 121 years from 1891 to 2011. Among those, 33% (389) made landfall on the Odisha coast. While the eastern India coast is one of the most cyclone-prone areas in the world, Odisha is twice as vulnerable compared to other eastern states, the report said. From 1891 to 2018, the number of cyclones that crossed the Odisha coast was 98, the highest among all the eastern coast states.
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