Sea to devour Odisha’s Paradip by end of century, says Nasa report

KENDRAPADA: A report prepared by by the US’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) suggests that the port town of Paradip, in Jagatsinghpur district, will be among the places which may submerge into the Bay of Bengal by the end of this century. It is estimated the Paradip will be under 0.59-metre of seawater in 2100, sending shockwaves in the coastal belt of Jagatsinghpur and the nearby Kendrapada district.
“Nasa has created a visualisation tool that makes data on future sea level rise from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) accessible to the public. The tool, hosted on Nasa’s Sea Level Portal, makes it possible to access details based on projections of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report, released on Monday,” said Ranjan Panda, an environmentalist and the convener of Water Initiatives.

The map with NASA’s projection on Paradip

“Paradip area was covered with dense mangrove forest till the 1950s. In the 1960s, the government denuded the mangrove forest to build the port. Mangrove trees protect the coastline and due to the cutting down of mangrove trees, Paradip, for the first time, faced sea erosion problems in the 1960s. To protect the Paradip port, the government stone-packed seaside areas to prevent the sea from devouring the port town. But the seawall in Paradip aggravated the erosion problem in the seaside villages of Satabhaya, Pentha and other villages in Kendrapada district, towards the eastern side of Paradip. Large number of people will get displaced in the state due to rising sea water as per the IPCC report,” Panda added.
On January 3, 1962, foundation stone for Paradip port was laid by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, four kilometers from the sea. Now, the foundation stone is situated only at a handshake distance from the sea.
“The sea is crawling menacingly towards Paradip. The report by Nasa has pressed panic buttons in the administration. Paradip port area is the hub of many industries, an oil refinery, two fertilizer plants besides other factories. It is high time the government chalks out a concrete plan to save the port town from the marching sea,” said Sarat Rout, a social worker in Paradip.
The marching sea also gobbled up the 400-year-old Panchubarahi temple in the seaside Satabhaya gram panchayat in Kendrapada district.
“The sea has changed its course in Paradip and nearby areas for which the government and port authorities build a seawall in Paradip. The administration is making on the spot assessment of the situation regularly,” said Kanhu Charan Dhir, the additional district magistrate of Paradip.
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