Risks

Question 1

1

Answer 1

Rates of erosion have increased in recent decades, partly through natural processes but also as a consequence of human intervention methods, which have been used to protect infrastructure.

With the majority of the state’s population living on the coastal plain, the Indian government has become concerned about the increased vulnerability of coastal communities to storm surges and tsunami as well as the longer-term threats posed by climate change and rising sea levels.

Question 2

2

Answer 2

The Odisha coastline 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 this stretch of India’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.

Question 3

Tropical cyclones

Answer 3

Odisha coast is at risk from tropical cyclones and the associated storm surges

October 2013 Cyclone Phailin
Winds up to 200km/h, 1 mil evacuated, 44 dead

Question 4

Shoreline Change Assessment findings

Answer 4

The coast of Odisha is largely accreting (46.8%), with 36.8% eroding and 14.4% stable.

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 districts of Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Baleshwar show levels of accretion that are more than 50% higher than anywhere else on the coast.

50 years ago Odisha had average 5.1km of mangroves, today 1.2km