Odisha Flashcards
Describe a few key facts about Odisha
- Its a state on the South East coast of India, bordering the bay of Bengal
- Its Indias 9th largest state by area
- It mainly compromises of depositional landforms
- There are 6 major deltas, explaining why the coastal plain is known locally as the ‘Hexadeltaic region’
Give an example of a coastal ecological environment in Odisha
Chilika lake: a brackish, salty lagoon, well known for its bird life
- during the monsoon season the lake becomes less saline, being diluted by the freshwater rainfall, and occupies a larger area than in the rest of the year
- Chiliki lake is a good example of a temporary store in the water cycle; the beach that has created the lake is an important store within the coastal system
What opportunities of human occupation and development does Odisha provide?
- a wide variety of marine and coastal flora and fauna inc. mangroves, salt marshes and sand dunes
- large stocks of fish, marine mammals olive Ridley turtles and abundant seaweeds
- area has a huge potential for offshore wind, tidal and wave power
- 35% of the coastal stretch is laden with substantial glacier (sediment) minerals and heavy metal deposits: there are important clay and limestone resources in the north of the state
- there are opportunities for offshore oil and natural gas, as well as sea bed mining
- many local people are employed in coastal fishing and increasingly in aquaculture such as shrimps
- cultural and archaeological sites also dot the coast, drawing visitors from around the world
- Tourism is important, with the coastal beaches and wildlife sanctuaries being major attractions
- The Chilika Lake bird sanctuary boasts over 150 migratory and resident species of birds
What are the risks for human occupation and development in Odisha?
Coastal erosion
Why does erosion pose a threat to Odisha?
Because the majority of the states population lives on the coastal plane, the Indian government has become concerned about the increased vulnerability of coastal communities to storm surges and tsunamis as well as longer term threats posed by climate change and rising sea levels
Describe how Odisha is a naturally changing environment
- erosion provides important inputs of sediment that, once transferred along the coast by waves, tides and currents is deposited to form beaches, dunes and barrier beaches which characterise Odisha’s coast
- natural seasonal variations occur along the coast, with accretion occurring in the summer during relatively low-energy wave conditions and erosion in the winter when high energy destructive waves remove and deposit sediment offshore
What did the shoreline change assessment for Odisha coast, 2011 state about attempting to halt coastal processes with human management?
“attempting to halt natural coastal process with seawalls and other hard structures only shifts the problem, subjecting downdrift coastal areas to similar losses, also without the sediment transport, some of the beaches, dunes, barrier beaches, salt marshes and estuaries are threatened and would disappear as the sand sources that feed and sustain them are eliminated
Risks for human occupation and development: what were the key findings from the assessment of shoreline change?
- the coast of Odisha is largely accreting (46.8%) with 36.8% eroding and 14.4% stable
- most accretion is in the north, focussing on the major deltas
- most of the erosion is in the south. Here there are major structures (sea walls, breakwaters and rock armour) protecting infrastructures (mainly ports) which have interfered with natural processes exacerbating rates of erosion
- due to the presence of dense mangrove vegetation the coastal district of Baleshwar shows levels of accretion that are more than 50% higher than anywhere else on the coast
- Shoreline change is extremely dynamic along the mouths of rivers, suggesting the inflow pattern determines the nature of the shoreline-rates of accretion and erosion were found to vary considerably either side of the major river mouths
Summarise the research of the assessment of shoreline change
- the research has found the coastline to be a very dynamic costal system (only 14.4% of the coast is ‘stable’) and subject to considerable change
- it is affected by significant seasonal variation in wave energy and sediment input via the regions major rivers
- human intervention has had a major impact on the system, interfering with sediment transfer and destabilising patterns of wave energy, resulting in severe erosion in certain localities
- these changes are of concern to the state and authorities given the enormous economic value of the coastal strip and possible inc. threats from storm surges, tsunamis and sea level rise
What was the cyclone called that hit Odisha’s coast?
Cyclone Phailin
When and where did Cyclone Phailin hit the coast?
- October 2013
- The Odisha coast near Golapur
What wind speeds did Clylone Phailin hit?
-what effects did this have?
200km/h
-it tore down power lines and uprooted trees
What were the primary effects of Cyclone Phailin?
- over 1m people evacuated from areas deemed to be at the greatest risk
- 44 people died, thousands affected
- buildings damaged, economic activity disrupted
- The coastal district of Ganjam was most severely affected with 500,000ha of ag. crops destroyed and economic losses close to US$700,000
- Chilika lake suffered from a storm surge that may take the ecosystem years to recover and along the coast thousands of mangroves were destroyed making the stretch of coastline more susceptible to storm surges
What mitigation strategies did the authorities introduce as a result of the infamous Odisha cyclone in 1999?
- providing relief supplies ahead of an approaching storm
- broadcasting warnings and conducting staged evacuations from the most vulnerable areas
What does the relatively low death toll of Cyclone Phailin suggest about Odisha?
It pays testament to the mitigation strategies as well as the resilience of the people and their ability to adapt to changing circumstances
