The "super cyclone' will leave a permanent environmental impact on the coastal ecology of the region. According to eyewitnesses, the affected districts have lost more than 90 per cent of their green cover. "There is hardly any tree left on the landscape,' the chief minister said immediately after the cyclone. But the biggest casualty is Chilika in Khurda district of the state. Already under threat from siltation due to large-scale deforestation in its catchment areas, the loss of tree cover due to the cyclone will hasten its death.

Five rivers