Officials of the Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) have cautioned the government over destruction of forest land, particularly the mangrove forests, along the coastal mandals in Krishna district.
The V&E teams, which visited the seabed villages, were worried over the poor implementation of the AP Forest Act 1967 and Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. They submitted a report to the government recently on the need for a ‘Mangrove Restoration Project’ to protect the vegetation.
Researchers say the mangrove forests will act as shields and protect the habitations from cyclones and sea erosion. The stilt roots of the plantations are the nurseries for many marine species, animals and birds, the environmentalists said.
The V&E Department asked the government to take measures to protect the forests located in Kruthivennu, Machilipatnam, Nagayalanka and Avanigadda mandals. They suggested for a detailed survey of the mangrove forests to protect them.
“We have conducted a study on the deforestation of the mangroves along the coast in Krishna district and found many violations. The V&E has recommended for constituting of ‘Mangroves Forest Conservation Committee’ headed by Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) and members from the Forest, Revenue and Fisheries Departments,” said Regional Vigilance and Enforcement Officer (RVEO) M. Ravindranath Babu.
Head of the Department of Biotechnology and Botany of Krishna University (KRU) P. Veerabrahma Chari, who is doing a research on the mangrove forests, says they are spread in 27,661 hectares in Krishna delta, but most of the vegetation is under serious threat.
Illegal ponds
“Over 90% of the population in the coastal areas belongs to the fishermen community. But due to deforestation, many families are migrating in search of livelihood,” the RVEO said.
Poor backwaters in the mangrove creeks, encroachment of mangrove forests, illegal aquaculture ponds, release of toxic effluents by some industries and use of mangroves as firewood and fodder are some of the reasons for the destruction, say the fishermen.
Farm houses in mangroves?
“Besides killing flora and fauna, destruction of mangroves is one of the reasons for increase in temperatures during summer in the coastal villages. Some influential persons constructed farm houses and are raising fishponds in mangrove forests in some thousands of acres causing ecological imbalance,” an officer preferring anonymity said and appealed for conservation.
