THE HINDU (HENNA !

THURSDA Y, JUNE 13, 2019

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Hunt for hydrocarbons could sink Pichavaram, fear activists

• Environmentalists raise red flag over the Centre • Experts say it will further damage , • The forests shielded the region giving nod for taking up EIA in the region which is already a global toxic hotspot from the killer waves of 2004 tsunami

Under serious threat: The picturesque mangrove forests in Pichavaram near are the secondlargest in the country after Sundarbans; besides being a tourist destination, the region also is the only source of livelihood for lrula tribes who have been living in the hamlets for generations together. •s.s. KUMAR • ·

S, PRASAD K.V. Elangeeran, president U} A 2007-08 report of in the country after Sundar­ (NEERI), Nagpur, estimated During the 2004 tsunami, and an. annual rainfall de­ {:)The ingestion of CUDDALORE bans and are not only valua­ the cancer risk in Cuddalore the mangrove mitigated the cline of 4%. "The presence of of Cauvery Delta Farmers As­ National hydrocarbon The Pichavaram mangrove, a ble as they act as carbon to be 2,000 times above na­ onslaught of the tidal waves. several aquaculture farms in sociation, alleged that the go­ Environmental bio shield that protected the sinks but also form an impor­ tional rates. While 176 people were killed and around the accumulation inthe vernment was trying to turn Engineering stretch of the coast from nat­ tant line of protection for the "It is surprising that in­ in town panchayat, has caused severe water and sediments by micro the Cauvery delta region, the ural calamities such as the Research Institute coast from natural disasters stead offixing a serious envi­ which bore the brunt of the heavy metal pollution result­ Rora and fauna will rice bowl of , into 2004 tsunami, is facing a (NEERI), Nagpur, like cyclones, floods and ronmental and public health tidal fury, over 3,000 fami­ ing in biomagnification in result inmortality a desert by implement ing the threat from hydrocarbon ex­ estimated the cancer tsunami." problems, the government is lies living in hamlets near the wetland biota. while surviving hydrocarbon project. ploration. risk inCuddalore to Allowing any industrial planning to further distress Pichavaram mangrove re­ organisms will The project will wipe out The verdant mangrove re­ be 2,000 times project in the vicinity will the population by locating gion escaped. Death and decay exhibit · large tracts of Thillai, a med­ gion, a unique ecosystem above national rates give a massive blow to these more polluting industries in The mangroves provide al­ "Many trees of rhizophora abnormalities icinal plant found only in the spread over 1,000 hectares, SHWETA NARAYANAN, mangroves, which are alrea­ the region," Ms. Narayanan ternative livelihood options species are either dead or in M. ANBARASHAN , Pichavaram mangrove straddles the Vellar and the Environmentalist dy stressed because of nume­ added. to the Irula tribes and inland dying condition were ob­ Ecologist and Post-doctoral Research forests. Coleroon which flow into the and farmers in the tail-end rous jetties, ports and power S. Killai Ravindran, presi­ fishermen in the surround­ served in the mangrove re­ Fellow with IFP A number of villages in.Na­ Bay of Bengal. Avicennia ma- Delta region, which is set to plants in the area, she said. dent of the Joint Action Com­ ing villages. The project will gion due to high salinity, in­ "The ingestion of hydro­ gapattinam district are bear­ rina and Rhizophora are the witness another bout of agi­ mittee against Disasters, an convert the region into a des­ adequate rain and fresh carbon accumulation in the ingthe brunt of the hydrocar­ predominant flora and act as tations. Critically polluted umbrella organisation of ert, he said. water inflow, pollution and sediments by micro flora and bon project implemented by a buffer and prevent tidal Environmentalists warn Cuddalore is a critically pol­ farmers' and civil society or­ According to M. Anbarash­ climate change," he said. fauna will result in mortality Oil and Natural Gas Corpora­ onslaught. that the mangrove, which is lute..d . region, according to ganisations, said it was ab­ an, ecologist and Post-docto­ Mr. Anbarashan pointed while surviving organisms · tion· Ltd (ONGC). "We fear The Centre's decision to home to several species of the Ministry of Environment surd to locate a "high risk" ral Research Fellow with the out that the hydrocarbon will exhibit developmental that this project will bring in grant Terms of Reference flora and fauna, would face and Forests data, CEPI study project in an ecologically French Institute of Pondi­ projects would increase the and reproductive abnormali­ a devastating effect on the li­ (ToR) to Vedanta Ltd.'s Cairn extinction if the project is im­ of 2010 to 2013. Numerous sensitive region like Pichava­ cherry (IFP), a recent experi­ ecological risk of the sensi­ tits resulting in drastk velihood of the coastal com­ Oil & Gas, to carry out Envi­ plemented. studies about pollution and ram. mental study in the man­ tive wetland ecosystem. changes in the food cycle of munities. The project will be ronment Impact Assessment Shweta Narayanan, an en­ health in the Sipcot indus­ "We request the Centre to grove forests revealed that The initiation of hydrocar­ the entire ecosystem. In ad­ envirmmentally dangerous for drilling offshore and on­ vironmentalist, said the pro­ trial complex of Cuddalore rescind the perm1ss10n the salinity in mangroves, bon exploration in Pichava­ dition, the oil spills from ex­ and is unwarranted. If the shore wells barely 490 ject would severely damage clearly show that it is a global granted to the private firm which usually ranges bet­ ram would lead to drastic ploration will destroy the in­ project is not scrapped the metres from the mangrove the ecologically sensitive Pi­ toxic hotspot. for exploration of hydrocar­ ween 0.6% and 36.2% had in­ change in wetlands hydro­ sulating ability of fishes and Centre and the Tamil Nadu forests has not gone down chavaram region. "A 2007-08 report of Na­ bon. If that is not done, the creased by more than 5% due logical system by accumula­ affect bird feathers leading Government will have to face well with various stakehol­ "The Pichavaram man­ tional Environmental Engi­ people in the coastal hamlets to an average temperature tion of hydrocarbons in its them to die from hypother­ the wrath of the people," he ders, including fishermen groves are the second largest neering Research Institute will oppose it tooth and nail." rise. of 3.1 degrees Celsius sediment. mia," he added. · said.