dr. b. ramalingeswara rao first identified the buffer zone action of the buckingham canal when he visited the coastal areas of . he recommended to the government to renovate it to mitigate tsunami hazards in the future. further, he reported in 2005, during the 2004 indian ocean tsunami, the buckingham canal acted as a buffer zone and regulated the tsunami waves on the coastal region over nearly from pedda ganjam to chennai. the canal all along the coast was filled with tsunami water, which overflowed at a few places and receded back to sea within 10-15 min. this helped save the lives of several fishermen, especially in coastal andhra pradesh and parts of chennai city and also helped in clearing of the aquaculture debris. the natural growth of vegetation on either side of the canal, has had an effect in tsunami mitigation; for example in vakadu mandal at villages like pudikappam, srinivasapuram and tudipalem, the damage was minimal.