The Agriculture Department has planned to increase the mangrove cover in various regions of Karaikal, based on the success of the growth of species on the sea-shore during the post-Tsunami period.
The department has taken up a study on the feasibility of increasing the mangrove forest cover in the marshy lands in Karaikal. “We have selected Mullaiyar and the bird sanctuary at Vizhudhiyur where the prospects for raising mangrove is conducive,” an official source told The Hindu on Monday.
The success of the mangrove growth on the marshy lands in the coastal Karaijkal had encouraged the Agriculture Department to explore the possibility of covering more area.
The department has developed a bio-wall for a distance of 7.5 km between Vanjur and Mandaputhur villages in the coastal stretch.
“The land has become a natural barrier for controlling the velocity of winds during cyclone. We developed four species — and the casuarinas had survived in the bio-wall.”
“Even during the pre-tsunami period, the department, in coordination with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, took up a pilot project in the area. But it did not take off in the initial period.
However, during the post-tsunami period, the project was taken up on the Fisheries Department land in coordination with the Forest Department.
The plants have now developed and sports a tourism-attractive scenario,” the official says. The area covered was about 10 acres.
Mullaiyar and Vizhudhiyur selected for mangrove success
Bio-wall raised for 7.5 km between Vanjur and Mandaputhur villages
