Berhampur: Odisha Forest department will plant mangroves in a coastal village in Ganjam district to mitigate cyclone impacts and curb soil erosion, officials said on Wednesday.
The plantation drive will be taken up at Purunabandh, a village located near the mouth of river Rushikulya under the Khallikote range of Berhampur forest division.
Approximately 15,000 mangrove saplings will be planted across a six-hectare area near the village under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-funded Enhancing Climate Resilience of India's Coastal Communities (ECRICC) project, Sunny Khokkar, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Berhampur and the project's nodal officer, said.
The project, costing an estimated Rs 33 crore, aims to enhance climate resilience across 33 panchayats in four coastal blocks - Chikiti, Rangeilunda, Khallikote, and Ganjam, primarily benefiting the fishing community. Collaboration among various departments including agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, animal resources development, and watershed management is pivotal for its implementation, Khokkar emphasised.
