Environmental Issues and Conservation in Odisha

Mining and Industrial Pollution

Odisha’s mineral wealth has come at an enormous environmental cost, with mining and mineral-processing industries being the largest source of environmental degradation. The Sukinda chromite belt in Jajpur district represents one of the most acute industrial pollution crises in the world. Decades of open-cast chromite mining have exposed the ore body to accelerated weathering, releasing hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), a potent carcinogen, into the groundwater and the Damsala and Brahmani rivers. Concentrations many times exceeding permissible limits have been recorded in drinking water sources, and the local population suffers from elevated rates of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases and cancers. The Sukinda Valley has been designated by international environmental organisations as one of the world’s most polluted places. Remediation efforts — including the construction of a common effluent treatment plant, chromium recovery from mine water, and revegetation of overburden dumps — have been initiated but have not yet reversed the contamination.

The Talcher-Ib Valley coal belt and the Joda-Barbil iron ore belt face severe air pollution from mining dust, coal washery effluents, and fly-ash from thermal power plants. Particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) levels in the industrial towns of Angul, Talcher, Jharsuguda, Joda, and Barbil regularly exceed national ambient air quality standards. Fly-ash from thermal plants, if not properly disposed of in ash ponds, contaminates surface water and soil. The overburden dumps from open-cast mines occupy thousands of hectares, destroying forests and agricultural land, altering drainage patterns, and creating unstable slopes that pose risks during heavy rain. The pollution of rivers — particularly the Brahmani (from the Rourkela steel plant, Talcher power plants, and Sukinda mines), the Mahanadi (from industries in Cuttack and Paradip), and the Rushikulya — by industrial effluents and untreated municipal sewage has degraded water quality and affected fisheries and human health in the downstream areas.

Deforestation and Loss of Forest Cover

Despite having approximately 33 per cent of its geographical area under forest cover, Odisha has experienced significant forest degradation, particularly in the mineral-rich districts and in the Maoist-affected areas where the control of the Forest Department has been constrained. The drivers of deforestation include mining (both legal open-cast operations and illegal quarrying), industrialisation and infrastructure development (roads, railways, power transmission lines), shifting cultivation in the tribal districts (though this has declined), and illegal logging for timber and fuelwood.

The quality of forest cover, as much as its extent, is a concern. Satellite-based assessments show that, while the total forest cover has marginally increased (largely due to plantation forestry and the inclusion of commercial plantations and orchards in the definition of forest cover), the area under very dense forest (canopy density greater than 70 per cent) has declined in several districts. The Similipal Biosphere Reserve, the Satkosia Tiger Reserve, and the forests of Koraput and Kalahandi have experienced degradation. Forest fires, particularly in the dry deciduous forests of western Odisha, are a recurrent problem, often deliberately set for promoting fresh grass for cattle or for collecting mahua flowers and tendu leaves, but also, increasingly, as a tool in the land-grab and mining-related encroachment.

Coastal Erosion and Marine Pollution

The Odisha coast, particularly the stretches from Chandipur to Dhamra, Paradip to Konark, and Puri to Ganjam, is experiencing coastal erosion at varying rates, driven by natural processes (sea-level rise, storm surges, longshore sediment drift) and human interventions (construction of ports and breakwaters, sand mining from beaches and river mouths, and the reduced sediment discharge from dammed rivers). The Pentha village in Kendrapara district and the shoreline near Konark (Chandrabhaga) have seen particularly acute erosion, with the sea ingressing into agricultural land and settlements.

The coastal and marine environment is also affected by marine pollution from oil spills (Paradip refinery and the shipping lanes), untreated sewage and industrial effluents discharged into the sea, and the accumulation of plastic debris on beaches. The olive ridley turtle nesting beaches — Gahirmatha, Rushikulya, Devi — are vulnerable to these pollutants and also to the disturbance caused by unregulated tourism, Casuarina plantation on nesting beaches, and artificial illumination from nearby settlements and industries that disorients hatchlings.

Water: Scarcity, Salinity, and Pollution

Despite its abundant rainfall and river systems, Odisha faces significant water resource challenges. Seasonal water scarcity affects the western and interior districts — Bolangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bargarh (south), and parts of the KBK region — where rainfall is lower, groundwater potential is limited, and surface irrigation has not reached the upland areas. Groundwater depletion is a concern in the coastal blocks of Cuttack, Puri, and Ganjam, where intensive irrigation using tube wells and the demands of a growing urban population have lowered the water table. Salinity intrusion into coastal groundwater aquifers, driven by over-extraction and by sea-level rise and storm surges, threatens drinking water supplies in the coastal villages of Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, and Puri.

Conservation and Policy Responses

The state has responded to these environmental challenges through a combination of regulatory measures, conservation programmes, and community-based initiatives. The Odisha Coastal Zone Management Authority (OCZMA), constituted under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, regulates development along the coast. The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) monitors industrial effluents and emissions, though its capacity for enforcement remains limited. The creation and expansion of the protected area network — 2 national parks, 19 wildlife sanctuaries, 3 tiger reserves, and 3 elephant reserves — provide legal sanctuary to critical ecosystems.

Afforestation and forest restoration programmes, including the Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project (OFSDP) — supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and later continued with state funding — has carried out plantation, assisted natural regeneration, and Joint Forest Management (JFM) involving over 10,000 Vana Surakshya Samitis (Forest Protection Committees). The conservation success stories of the state — the recovery of the saltwater crocodile in Bhitarkanika, the protection of olive ridley turtle nesting beaches, the restoration of the Chilika Lake’s ecology through the opening of a new mouth — all demonstrate that determined, scientifically informed intervention, combined with community participation, can reverse environmental degradation. The challenge lies in scaling these successes, institutionalising environmental governance, and integrating environmental sustainability into the core of economic planning, not as an afterthought but as a non-negotiable parameter.