A coastal highway project linking Gopalpur in Odhisha and Digha in West Bengal will boost Odisha’s economy, according to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The construction of 452-km long highway is to cost Rs 7,500 crore.
Pradhan claimed that the highway will create an economic corridor for transport of agriculture and pisciculture produce to Paradip and Dhamra ports. The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas said that the road will act as a protective barrier for vulnerable villages along the sea coast from the onslaught of cyclones and floods.
The project has been opposed by environmentalist an recipient of Green Nobel Prize, Prafulla Samantara.
According to Samantara the project will harm the fragile coastal environment of the Odisha coast and affect major biodiversities like Chilika lake and Bhitarkanika. It will destroy the natural mangrove forests and lead to increased threat of sea erosion, he feels.
Mangroves act as natural barrier against flood and tides, and protect the beach. They house a rich variety of flora and fauna, and migratory birds. The coastal highway will destroy more than 33 per cent of mangrove forests, the environmental activist said.
Samantara had appealed to major political parties to oppose the project, but it has now been given environmental clearance by the Central Government.