KENDRAPARA: The crusade against illegal prawn farming is making inroads into seaside villages of Mahakalapada block. In the last two years, the forest and district officials have demolished 1,252 hectares out of the 2,529 hectares being used for prawn farming, said Prasanna Kumar Behera, the divisional forest officer of Bhitarkanika National Park. The farms have come up in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Act that prohibits prawn farms within 500 metres of the coast. Mangrove saplings have been planted in the area cleared of the encroachments. Mangrove forest would act as a natural barrier against the onslaught of cyclones, said the forest officer. The prawn farms were set up after denuding mangrove forest in these areas. Cases have been filed against 23 prawn mafias under Section 29 of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, for illegally using saline water of the rivers and creeks within Bhitarkanika National Park by cutting the river embankments, said the forest officer. The forest officials too have filed cases against 190 prawn farmers for illegally converting forest land into prawn farms. Plans are afoot to demolish the remaining illegal prawn farms within a year, he said. Farmers in the coastal pockets of Kendrapara have joined the battle against illegal prawn farming. It is a bid to save their agricultural fields that have, in the last 10 years, lost their fertility due to the mushrooming prawn farms, he added. Farmers have been complaining about white patches on top soil and the gradual loss of productivity. This was attributed to the existence of a large number of prawn farms in the seaside villages, said District Krusak Sabha president Umesh Chandra Singh. The prawn farm owners, he alleged, would often release effluents from the prawn gherries into the nearby agricultural fields. The farmers had no choice but to sell their barren lands to the prawn farmers and that too at a throwaway price, said Arjun Mandal of Batighar village. The prawn farm owners are critical of the action being taken by the forest officials. Many people have invested huge money in prawn farming, but the authorities are demolishing the farms without prior notice. As a result, we are incurring huge losses, said Bijaya Das, a prawn farmer of Suniti village.