64-Conservation Restoration and Management of Chilika Lagoon East Coast of India

Abstract

Chilika is the largest brackish water lagoon of India. It is a pear shaped lagoon wider in the northern sector then the southern sector region. The lagoon was opened to the sea at Arrakhakuda which is known as outer channel or Magarmukh and the lagoon was connected to the Rushikulya estuary by the Palur channel. The Magarmukh mouth and channel has been silted and there was no free flow of water from the sea to the lagoon and vice-versa. The total area of lagoon was 1165 sq Km during monsoon and 906 sq.Km during summer. Due to siltation and erosion the area has been reduced to 1050 sq.Km during monsoon season and 740 sq. km during summer. The water depth was 4.5 meters and now it has been reduced up to 0.91 meter only. The salinity of the lagoon has drastically changed and infested with aquatic weeds. A new mouth has been opened by Chilika Development Authority (CDA) near Sipakuda during September 2000. Now the water quality ,fish production and reappearance of few species has been observed in Chilika lagoon. A constant inflow of silt of about 13 million tonnes annually entering in to the lagoon. Therefore, dredeging operation has been implemented to check the siltation by the river runoff and soil erosion. The step taken by the CDA, NGOs and fishermen community for conservation, restoration and management of Chilika lagoon has been discussed in detail in this paper.