Budget gives a boost to coastal protection initiatives
The Hindu
Kufos set to establish major mangrove research and propagation station
Efforts to protect the nearly 600-km Kerala coast and people living on the coast may witness a sea change, with the revised Budget for 2021-22 promising to tap into local knowledge, leverage green solutions, and adopt the latest engineering techniques for the purpose even as the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) is set to finalise plans to establish a major mangrove research and propagation station. Coastal area conservation measures will be formulated to integrate new technologies and green solutions like mangrove vegetation, said Minister for Finance K.N. Balagopal in the Assembly on Friday. On utilising the knowledge of the local people and addressing their concerns, the Minister said: “Extensive stakeholder consultations will be conducted with local participation before finalising designs. For this, the views of community organisations working in coastal areas will be sought with the assistance of the Local Self-Government and Fisheries departments.” Going by the experience of the local people, green cover along the coast can help prevent sea erosion in places like Chellanam. K.K. Rarghuraj of Kufos, an expert in mangroves, had said at a recent consultative meeting on Chellanam that the segment of the coast between Fort Kochi and Chellanam lacked substantial beach formation. Beaches are needed to grow mangroves and provide bioshield protection to the coast.More Related News