Loss of vegetation might lead to coastal erosion in Nagai: Experts

According to forest department sources, nearly 72,000 hectares, which includes protected areas like Muthupet mangroves and Kodiakarai (Point Calimere), of green cover has been adversely affected. The organic content in the soil has also degraded. Besides coconut trees, more than one lakh teak and other indigenous trees have been uprooted leaving birds without roosting and nesting habitats, sources said.

A fact-finding team comprising local foresters and independent ecologists has revealed the landscape of eco-sensitive Vedaranyam and Kodiakarai areas undergoing a change with the top alluvial soil washed away and replaced with saline water.

Further, according to an interim report submitted to the State Forest Department, a collection of carcass in the region has revealed a massive death of 483 flamingoes and more than 800 Caspian terns and sea gulls. Foresters also noticed a dolphin weighing 60 kg washed ashore by Gaja and 17 dead blackbucks.

“The soil nutrient and the vegetation are under biotic stress. The Point Calimere bird sanctuary needs an immediate documentation and a long-term monitoring,” said conservation scientist A Kumaraguru of Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, who had documented the loss of flora and fauna along with foresters based in delta region.

Most of the data related to migratory birds and the landscape are old dating back to Independence era. In the wake of Gaja affecting the delta region badly there is a need for fresh updates and comparisons, he said.

“The organic content in the soil has also degraded and there is a need to study the current pH level of water and soil. Other tests like salinity, ground water depletion, mortality of coastal trees and shrubs, damages to mangrove forests and the change in landscape should be ascertained,” Kumaraguru said, adding the Forest Department should rope in leading research stations like the Wildlife Institute of India for the purpose.