I Am the Chilika Lagoon, Odisha
India’s largest coastal lagoon; now whispering, almost weeping
I cradle flamingos in winter. Dolphins glide through my dawn-lit waters.
Fishermen draw their breath from mine.
My tides are stories. My brackish pulse keeps time with the rhythm of mangroves and migratory wings.
But something’s gone quiet in me.
The birds still come, but fewer now.
The water no longer laughs like it used to.
I am silting.
I am shrinking.
I am suffocating.
Plastic is strangling me.
Illegal prawn farms churn my womb into sludge.
Forests fall upstream… their dust becomes my silence.
Tourism barges in, loud and hungry, carving selfies into my skin.
Why I’m Under Threat
Unregulated aquaculture: Shrimp farms sprout like wounds across my shores, draining me, poisoning me.
Upland deforestation: With no trees to hold the soil, the rivers bring me mud instead of life.
Climate shifts: My salinity, my species are all disoriented. The rhythm of seasons no longer fits the old patterns.
Tourism overload: Boats roar past nesting sites. Garbage litters my shallows. What began as homage has turned to harm.
My Call to Action
I need guardians, not guests. I need policymakers with a spine, not just speeches.
Enforce strict regulations on aquaculture.
Rein in reckless tourism; make it responsible, reverent.
Recognize me not as scenery, but as a living being with rights, breath, and memory.
Restore the mangroves. Halt the mindless check dams. Let my waters flow as they were meant to.
Let me breathe. So I can keep breathing life into the East Coast of India.
#VoiceofNature #RightsofNature #India #ChilikaLagoon #WorldNatureConservationDay2025 #GARNAsiaPacificHub