Two More Eco-Tourism Hubs on Anvil at Satkosia

BHUBANESWAR: The Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) authorities have selected two more sites to be developed into eco-tourism hubs. The wildlife wing of the forest department is likely to send a proposal to the government within two months in this regard, official sources said.

STR field director Anup Nayak said Baliput in Satkosia Wildlife Division and Badmul in Mahanadi Wildlife Division would be developed as eco-tourism sites. "We are working on the design and the facilities that will be provided to tourists. Since the two sites are located on both sides of Mahanadi river, we will try to introduce boating facilities as well," said Nayak.

The Baliput site is known for its scenic view of the river and a chain of hills on both sides. At present, people visit the spot for picnic and bathing. Badmul is located opposite Baliput and it is also a favourite picnic spot.

STR is, at present, running three ecotourism sites at Tarva, Tikarpada and Anshupa, which are witnessing impressive tourist footfall.

In November last year, the authorities set up facilities for tent accommodation at Tarva. "Because of eco-tourism activities involving local communities, poaching and illegal fishing have been checked. The forest dependence of villagers living in buffer and core areas has also gone down considerably," Nayak added.

Poaching and illegal fishing are common at Baliput and Badmul. "Our focus will be to create eco-tourism facilities and involve the villagers in it so that they will start reposing faith in the forest department and stop poaching activities," said Anshu Pragyan Das, divisional forest officer, Mahanadi wildlife division.

A senior forest officer said that like the Tarva site, tents can be put up for the tourists at the two new selected sites. "Creating makeshift accommodation on the sand at both the locations is on the cards. If the government gives the go ahead, we will use funds from the annual action plan," said the officer. He added that the tents would have toilet facilities.

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Olive Ridleys Enter Seaside Villages

Kendrapada: Disoriented by lights and lack of space on the beach, many Olive Ridley sea turtles made their way into seaside villages near Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary and Rushikulya river mouth to lay eggs. When some failed to find their way back into the sea, villagers helped them return.

Turtles usually head into the sea immediately after nesting.

Around 120 turtles laid eggs in Barahapur, Kanhupur and Pentha villages near Gahirmatha, the world's largest rookery of Olive Ridleys on Friday and Saturday nights.

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Two More Eco-Tourism Hubs on Anvil at Satkosia

BHUBANESWAR: The Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) authorities have selected two more sites to be developed into eco-tourism hubs. The wildlife wing of the forest department is likely to send a proposal to the government within two months in this regard.

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Rushikulya: Turtles Begin Mass Nesting

BERHAMPUR: The mass nesting of Olive Ridley sea turtles started near Rushikulya river mouth in the early hours of Thursday.

Over 10,000 female turtles have laid eggs in the over three-km-long sandy beach from Gokharakuda to Podampeta.

Wildlife experts said the unique phenomenon would continue for some more days. The beach condition and weather is very conducive.

Sporadic nesting was noticed in the Rusikulya rookery, considered the second largest after Gahiramatha, for the last one week. The entire 4.5-km long stretch of beach is divided into 33 sectors. Scholars and visitors will be allowed entry these two sectors.

Around 175 people, including forest personnel, wildlife activists and villagers are engaged in the protection of turtles and their eggs. It will continue till the next.

Climbing the beach, the female turtles dig pits in the sand and lay eggs. The pit is covered by the mother turtles before they go back into the sea. Around 100 to 150 eggs are laid by each female turtle. 

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Webcast Of Turtles’ Mass Nesting

BERHAMPUR: You can watch the Olive Ridley turtles mass nesting on the sandy shores near the Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam district at home without going having to go the site, which is about 50 km from here. 

The wildlife wing of the forest department is webcasting the unique phenomenon, which started on Thursday. Just log on to www.wildlife.org to watch the natural phenomenon. 

"We have decided to webcast the mass nesting of the Olive Ridley turtles at Rushikulya rookery to allow wildlife lovers to witness the unique phenomenon without having to visit the site. The facility has also helped forest officials minimize the crowd that gathers on the spot during the nesting period," said chief wildlife warden S S Srivastav. 

"The mass nesting of the turtles was recorded as they Olive Ridleys laid eggs, usually in the early morning. Then it was uploaded on the website for the webcast," said divisional forest officer, Berhampur, S S Mishra. At least two IT professionals and a wildlife scientist were engaged for the purpose, he added. 

"The live webcast was not done from the rookery as it might have caused disturbance and posed a hurdle to the turtles because of the light," said another officer. 

Earlier, the DFO Berhampur had submitted a proposal to the government for live telecast of the mass nesting of the turtles from the site. But the Rs 40-lakh project was yet to be implemented 

Mass nesting of the Olive Ridley turtles, an endangered species, continued for the second day on Friday. One the second day, more than 59,000 turtles laid eggs while 10,000 turtles laid eggs on the first day at the river Rushikulya rookery. Wildlife experts expect that the mass nesting might continue for a few more days as the beach and weather conditions were conducive to the natural phenomenon. 

The forest officials have taken several measures to protect the eggs and the turtles. The entire 4.5-km long stretch of beach has been divided into 33 sectors. The area has been totally fenced to prevent visitors from disturbing the turtles. 

Around 175 persons, including forest personnel, wildlife activists and people from nearby villages were engaged for round-the-clock vigil to protect the Olive Ridley turtles and the eggs.

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Ancient Temples Hidden Behind Concrete Mountains

BUBANESWAR: Ward numbers 58, 59 and 60 at Old Town in the city are dotted with beautiful ancient temples which lend the city its distinct identity. But encroachments near these temples have robbed the shrines of their beauty. 
"Kedar Gouri used to be a prominent landmark and tourists could reach here easily without having to ask about its location. Now, it looks as if it has been hidden behind a mountain of concrete,"

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Tourism Department Plans Docudramas On Jagannath Culture

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State to showcase its hot spots in Berlin

Bhubaneswar, Feb 27: A delegation from the state led by the tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda is all set to fly to Berlin to promote the hot tourist spots of Orissa at the international level. Berlin is hosting an international travel- trade show christened ‘ITB-2015’ which is expected to attract delegations from across 180 countries. Every year, delegations from different parts of the world flock to the travel-trade show to exhibit travel destinations of their individual countries.

The team of the department of tourism comprises, apart from the tourism minister, tourism secretary Aravind Padhee, tourist officer Rati Kant Patnaik, representatives of three prominent city hotels and a tour operator. They will board a flight on March 2 to take part in the fest, slated to commence from March 4. The four-day fest will go on till March 8.

 The website of ITB-2015 says that there will be 10,000 exhibitions held during the four-day fest across an area covering 1,60,000 square meters. The website also states that delegations from around 180 countries will be taking part in the event.

Tourist officer Rati Kant Patnaik, who is part of the delegation told Orissa Post, “Our team will take a flight on March 2. We have taken publicity material with us to showcase our famous tourist destinations at the international festival. We are ready with posters, brochures, CDs and DVDs, besides other materials in order to inform the foreigners more about our state and about the famous places here. We will put on display places like Puri, Konark, Bhitarkanika, Buddhist sites like Lalitgiri, Udayagiri (and) Chilika lake among other hot spots.”

When asked who all would the state tourism department target at the international fest, Patnaik said, “We will basically talk to the tour and travel operators there. We will inform them about our resources. Moreover, we will also inform the visitors directly about our travel destinations. Hope we get some foreign tourists through the fest.”

The four private players who are part of the government delegation are representatives of Hotel Mayfair, Hotel Swosti, hotel Toshali and Alternative Tours, a tour operator.

 According to informed sources the department of tourism often visits international travel fests to showcase Orissa’s tourist destinations and resources for world travellers. Last month, the department visited New York to take part in a similar trade fair. A tour to London is slated next month. There the department will showcase the state’s hot spots to European tourists.

Tourism department sources say, it is a regular affair for the department to take part in the international fairs to project the famous sites in the state at global level and to attract foreign tourists. The state government, it may be recalled, has sanctioned around `149crore for the next fiscal, to promote tourism in the state. However, many critics in the past did target the tourism department for these visits to foreign countries, which are not its potential markets. The department had also been criticised in the past for spending a good amount of money in organising promotional events instead of focusing on creations of public utility at important tourist destinations. 

Ramsar Plans for Chilika Gets Green Signal

BHUBANESWAR: The Ramsar Convention Secretariat’s proposal to set up a Ramsar Regional Centre for South Asia at Chilika was approved by the State Government here on Wednesday.

The governing body of Chilika Development Authority (CDA), headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, met here and gave its nod to the proposal. The regional centre would make the lagoon a hub of capacity building for wetland managers of South Asia.

The body also approved the annual plan of CDA at an estimated `26.74 crore for 2014-15. A host of activities including socio-economic development of fisherfolks living in and around Chilika, development of infrastructure and monitoring and management of the lagoon will be taken up as part of the plan.

The integrated management action plan of Chilika, presented before the 14th Finance Commission with an estimated outlay of `100 crore, was also approved. It will be implemented during 2015-2018.

A tourism master plan for Chilika and its catchment areas, which seeks to prepare project profile for 10 tourist sites to bring out their investment opportunities, was also okayed by the Government. The master plan’s outlay is projected at `2.42 crore and is being jointly devised by CDA and Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project.

The meeting informed that lake health monitoring system based at Wetland Research and Training Centre has been upgraded using the advanced data buoys systems deployed at strategic locations of the lagoon. These data buoys are providing necessary information to monitor health of the ecosystem to track the impacts of natural or man-made events on real time basis.

It was also decided that a statue of former Chief Minister Biju Pattnaik, the first chairperson of the governing body of CDA, will be installed at the Eco Park at Satapada.

Speaking at the meeting, the Chief Minister said steps are being taken to expedite enactment of the Chilika (Regulation of Fisheries) Bill.

He said Chilika warrants science-based management supported by cutting edge research. To achieve this, the WRTC at Barkul has to be developed into a state-of-the-art research laboratory. It is planned to make provision of necessary funds and manpower to achieve this, Naveen added.

The Chief Minister also said steps are being taken to empower primary fishermen cooperative societies (PFCSs). The Government had already provided share capital to the tune of `6 crore to extend soft loan to PFCS members. Besides, as many as 5,600 insulated iceboxes were supplied to the societies for preservation of fish quality.