The tropical cyclones had always targeted the coastal parts of India. Every year several cyclones hit such areas especially Odisha and West Bengal and destroy both life and property. It became a regular phenomenon of people of coastal areas and they are also habituated with this.
But the main fact that, it is actively working to stop the force of cyclones.We can say mangroves are the super magical life-saving materials of Mother Nature.
Let’s discuss some of the cyclones or super cyclones that hit coastal areas.
In November 2019 a very severe cyclonic storm Bulbul struck Odisha, West Bengal, and Bangladesh. Where the highest wind speed measured as 195 km/h sustained for 1 minute but in general, it’s 140 km/hr. Total fatalities are 41 and the total damage is nearly 3.37 USD. But The Sundarbans mangroves reduced the wind speed of cyclone Bulbul by 20 kilometers an hour and winds with speeds of up to 135 mph caused severe damage to both states’ coastal parts with heavy rain and flood.
However, the impact was limited with minimum loss of life only because of Mangroves.
Not only this but also we can take other such cyclones that hit the coastal regions. The mass number of such mangroves helps to reduce the force of the cyclone by reducing its wind speed. It helps both to save lakhs of life as well as property too.
Mangroves-
Mangrove is mostly found in the area of a combination of freshwater and saltwater. It’s a herb having a special type of habitation. They have a significant role in both economical and ecological contexts.
Mangrove of India-
As per the record In India West, Bengal has the highest area of mangroves nearly 41.45% of the total followed by Gujarat 23.66%. Odisha has only 5.04% of mangroves out of 100. As per the report of the Forest Department, India’s mangrove increased by 54 sq km in comparison to 2017.
Total mangrove area- 4975 sq km(0.15% of globe)
Very Dense- 1476 sq km(29.66%)
Moderately Dense- 1479 sq km (29.73%)
Open Mangroves- 2020 sq km (40.61%)
Major mangroves in India-
1.Sundarban mangroves
2.Mahanadi mangroves
3.Krishna Godavari mangroves
4.Ratnagiri mangroves
5.Goa mangroves
6.Andaman Nicobar mangroves
7.Sundarban Mangrove Forests are the largest mangroves in the world.
Importance of Mangroves:-
●Acts as Storm buffer.
● Reduce impact of cyclones & storm surge.
●They break the wind force.
●Provide habitat to animals during cyclone.
●They reduce pollution.
●Protects against coastal erosion.
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