Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu), February 22 In a significant step towards building climate resilience, the Tamil Nadu government has developed a nearly 2 km long coastal bioshelter in the Cuddalore district to protect local villages from rising sea levels and erosion.
According to a social media update by Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Tamil Nadu, the living coastal shelterbelt covers an area of 45 hectares and is approximately 300 metres wide. The project is designed to protect the villages of Akkaraikori, Singarathope, and Sonankuppam from natural coastal threats.
The bioshelter was scientifically designed and planted as part of the state government's Green Tamil Nadu and Climate Change Mission. It features a diverse mix of flora, including 30,000 Palmyrah trees and 1,00,000 Casuarina seedlings, which serve as a primary windbreak, she wrote on her official X handle.
Additionally, the belt includes 28,000 mangrove saplings and about 2,000 tall, coastal-resilient native species, she added.
Sahu described the initiative as a living green guardian rather than a concrete wall. Following the successful implementation in Cuddalore, a similar project is currently being developed in Tuticorin.