The new study, conducted by scientists at the University of Delhi, India, and Duke University in the United States, analysed the 1999 'super cyclone' that ravaged Orissa, killing an estimated 10,000 people.

Mangroves

Mumbai City's hope of getting a landfill site to accommodate the 6,000 tonnes garbage it disposes each day seems to be fast diminishing with environmentalists opposing the BMC

Sangeetha Neeraja

RESTORED Mangroves at Pichavaram played a role in mitigating the impact of Tsunami. Today, it stands as a precedent in evolving sustainable community centric conservation biosheild modules.

Forest Minister Binoy Viswom arriving for the meeting of forest officials, environmentalists and nature lovers at Mangalavanam on Sunday.

Camels grazing in the mangrove forest, small fishing boats anchored on shore and naked children playing with dead fish. This scene can be a great opening to a documentary however reality paints a different picture of it.

Mango production in the region is appeared to fall around 25 to 30 percent this season due to the continuous drought like climatic condition frustrating the farmers and the traders concerned.

Horticulture scientists and the farmers said that the green mangoes are falling abnormally for the last couple of days due to long-time absence of rainfall along with high temperature.

The tsunami of December 26, 2004, devastated many coastal areas in Sri Lanka. Curiously, the tsunami spared several areas which had mangroves - dense forests of salt-resistant trees and shrubs that grow in brackish, low-lying coastal swamps in the tropics and subtropics.

Commercial considerations are taking a heavy toll on the popular mangrove swamps in Sri Lanka, with environmentalists asking for effective measures to preserve them. Mangrove plants has helped in water flow and enhancing the possession of sediments in the water system.

A study said healthy mangrove forests helped save Sri Lankan villagers during the tsunami 2004.

Environmental experts have expressed concern over the reduction of mangrove forests along the Sindh coast, warning that if the mangroves are not protected, the city fears a greater risk of being hit by a tsunami in the future.