Ramanathapuram
The Gaja cyclone which wreaked havoc on the delta districts had spared the Gulf of Mannar (GoM) biosphere reserve untouched, though the forest department officials kept their fingers crossed after meteorological department predicted the cyclone would cross the coast between Cuddalore and Pamban.
“The cyclone had very minimum impact in the Pamban area and had not disturbed the marine resources or the colonies of coral reefs in the marine national park, the repository of richest marine biodiversity” Rajkumar, Assistant Conservator of Forest, said.
Had the cyclone disturbed the marine life, there would have been symptoms of carcases of marine animals being washed ashore but the department has not witnessed any such symptom, he said.
Three days after the cyclone made the landfall near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district in the early hours of November 16, carcass of a giant sea turtle was found washed ashore but that had nothing to do with the cyclone, he said. The colonies of coral reefs around the islands in the GoM region were also intact, he said.
The nearly 24 cm heavy downpour in Rameswaram island on the night of November 23, however, caused breach of a forest pond constructed by the department in Danushkodi and inundated plantations in the Reserve Forest areas in the island, he said.
The pond was built last year to attract birds and it became swamp after the bund breached in the rains, he said. Water has been drained out in the reserve forest area, he added.
Meanwhile, the Thethangal bird sanctuary has started receiving winter migratory birds such as white ibis, black ibis, spoonbills and little egrets, he said. There was water in Chitrangudi, Kanjirankudi and Sakkarakottai bird sanctuaries and they all set to receive birds later this month, he said.
The department has started releasing fish fingerlings in the sanctuaries for the birds to feed, he added. The Melaselvanoor/Keelaselvanoor bird sanctuary had no water and they expected couple good spells of rain to attract birds in the sanctuaries in the coming days, he said.
