The Tamil Nadu state forest department has embarked on a coastal restoration and ecosystem protection mission involving the establishment of a mangrove forest belt on the Adyar estuary.
A line of 5000 mangrove saplings was planted along the Adyar river mouth with the aim of improving Chennai’s flood resilience as well as fostering biodiversity along the coast.
As a first step to the project, a host of invasive Prosopis juliflora (mesquite or seemai karuvelam) shrubs which had overgrown the river mouth were removed by the forest department across the Battle of Adyar island.
Following this, 5000 saplings belonging to four different species, Rhizophora mucronata (Asiatic mangrove), Rhizophora apiculata (tall-stilt mangrove), Avicennia marina (grey mangrove), and Excoecaria agallocha (Milky mangrove), were planted in a fishbone formation. This is a scientific technique of planting mangroves in canal networks dug in degraded intertidal land for increased soil fertility and better tidal flow. It involves a central spine channel connected to smaller connected channels.
This adds to earlier initiatives by the Chennai River Restoration Trust, which had planted 57,000 saplings in 2014. According to a TOI report, however, the 2015 floods had caused a setback as many saplings were washed away. It was again replanted within two years.
Similarly, the northeast monsoon this year will pose a critical test for the saplings, according to experts, the TOI report further said. Silting will be high along the river, and this could be detrimental to the young saplings' survival.