Working on the advice of the Forest & Environment Dept of the state, the Port Authority has now developed its own nursery wherein over 1 lakh saplings have been prepared this year and already 72,000 saplings have been distributed to various Gram Panchayat and educational institutions in the vicinity. The saplings of various useful as well as medicinal plants have been developed scientifically in a modern process.
The port still continues the distribution of saplings in 8 Gram Panchayats, such as; Dosinga, Jagula, Dhamra, Kaithakhola, Bansada, Panchutikiri, Karanjmal, Karanpalli. While the Pollution Control board had provisioned for distribution of 50 thousands saplings in the year 2016-7, the Port authority has already distributed over 70 thousand saplings till date. Last year around 22,500 trees were planted alongside the railway line as well as periphery villages of rail line.
It may be noted here that, over last few years over 1 lakh 60 thousand trees were planted on both sides of the Dhamra Port rail line in around 25 gram panchayats. Dhamra Port has also requested the District Collector of Bhadrak to identify land patches for societal afforestation. Besides, Dhamra Port has been felicitating eminent personalities working on environment protection with ‘Prakruti Sathi’ award every year, as part of its CSR programme.