Presently, the Andaman and Nicobar sea has proved itself to be more and more lethal as it is originating all kinds of oceanic storms like Phailin and Hudhud, etc.
The Andaman and Nicobar islands have many hills and plateaus. No island exceeds 32 km in breadth. All these islands cover ever green forests of mangrove ecosystem. The general climate of these islands is hot and moist. But gradual destruction of the ecosystems of the islands is creating all sorts of disasters in the sea.
It rains heavily almost throughout the year in the islands. The general evergreen estuarine ecological system of the region is ideal for cultivation of rice, rubber, coconut, coffee, chili, pine apple, mango papaya etc. Besides all these agro- horticultural products, timbers are the measure revenue earning items of these islands. The land mass of these islands is 8, 249 sqkm.
Once upon a time the Andaman sea was very famous for coral reefs. Due to various economic activities and interference of man, the coral reefs were damaged and destroyed. These were formed by the depositions of skeleton of several invertebrate animals of oceanic origin, which are generally calcareous in nature and provide a hard organic surface to the oceanic floor. The ecological process of the nature is now very much restricted.
The islands have 6, 00,000 sqkm of oceanic forests. These are equivalents of tropical rain forests. The coral reefs form different groves like tropical forests. The coral lands provide habitats for crores of animals of the planet, who keep symbiotic relationship with oceanic nature. The reefs provide home for incredible varieties of lives within the ocean floor. Almost every crack fold and crevice of the oceanic forest is occupied by varieties of marine creatures.
The loss of coral forests of tropical ocean always brings disasters like tsunami and different kinds of oceanic storms, hurricanes and tropical cyclones. It is certain that the coral reefs always protect the land from various disasters. In no way should such reefs be allowed to weaken or be lost. These reefs also protect the wave action on the sea coast and helps prevent sea erosion. For example when one coral reef was destroyed by the Sri lankan Government in past, the shore line was pushed back by almost 300 metres. So the coral reefs always protect the land from sea erosion. Unfortunately so far no detail studies or research on propagation of coral reefs or coral – tropical – forest have been made to increase the coral wealth the Indian ocean or the Bay of Bengal.
In India 217 types and 744 sub- types of moss are noticed. The weight of which comes to 2,60,876 tons. Varieties of mosses are noticed in the northwest, southeast, Andaman and Nicobar islands. The rich biodiversities of mosses are seen within the Indian ocean, specially within Andaman sea. There is semiotic relationship between coral reefs and with mosses of the biotic regions. From the mosses the carbohydrate like agar and carrageen are found. The sea weeds like mosses are used as food of various races in the world. In 2004 an exhibition was held in Kochi to educate people on preservation of mosses which are an economic resource.
The coral diversities are unique. The creation of coral reef can take centuries but this can be destroyed by man within no time. Their ecosystems are the oldest in the earth.
We observed the Disaster Mitigation Day on October 29 last. The Super Cyclone had hit Odisha on the day 15 years back. The protection of biotic – environment and the symbiotic relationship between man and the environment should be sustainably maintained for the existence of all living beings.
The islands are very important for us. They are also a potential source to attract tourists. There islands from Port Blair to Visakhapatnam form a cruise line for sea voyages.
Besides the avifauna population of the islands is wonderful. There are nearly 300 residential and semi– residential birds found within this region. But exploitation of live and dead invertebrate animals such as snails, oysters and conches from the Andaman sea to the Bombay coasts and in other areas of the Bay of Bengal has done a great damage. This work is detrimental for formation of coral reefs. Coral reefs need calcareous bases. Exploitations of invertebrate animals should be stopped.
The low pressure belts created from time to time in the Andaman sea directly affects the Andhra and Odisha coasts. These two coasts are very much vulnerable to Tsunami and cyclone. So the climatic harmony of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and its regimes should be perfectly maintained to stop these disasters and save the people of Andhra and Odisha from such onslaught of nature. Similarly the movement of cyclonic wind force can be reduced by resorting to large scale plantation of mangrove trees and protection of the mangroves.
largely due to the presence of the Eastern Ghat, the severity of the cyclones is greatly retarded. So this hill range has to be protected. Now the people of Andhra Pradesh, Simandhra, Odisha and Chhatisgarh have to rethink if they should move forward the controversial Polavaram project which poses a threat to the Eastern Ghat hill range.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel No. 9937460649)
