Boating at Bhubaneswar's Satkosia from November one

BHUBANESWAR: The much-awaited boating facility will start in the 22-km long Mahanadi gorge in Mahanadi wildlife division of Satkosia Tiger Reserve from November 1.

The forest department has already readied an eight-seater boat and applied for its licence to the transport department.

Boating was not part of eco-tourism in Satkosia as a restriction had been imposed to maintain the serenity of the gorge, which is home to muggers and gharials. To increase tourist footfall, however, the authorities decided to introduce the facility in a one-km buffer area only.

"It will be a 45-minute ride and professional boatmen have been trained to handle boating within the demarcated area. Tourists can take the boat from Badmul, a fishermen village," said divisional forest officer (Mahanadi wildlife division) Anshu Pragyan Das. Life jackets for the tourists have been procured, she added.

"Fishermen, who used to earn their livelihood from fishing, will be provided employment in the boating facility. We will ask the Eco-development Committee (EDC), which has been formed to involve villagers to be a part of wildlife protection and reap the benefits to run the boating operation," Das added.

"Through the boating service, we will engage fishermen, who have been complaining of deprivation of earning after a ban on fishing. Many tourists, who come here hoping to go boating in the gorge, will finally be able to experience it," said field director of Satkosia Anup Nayak.

He added that they are yet to take decision whether to charge tourists separately for boating or include it in the package.

Shared by: Hotels in Bhubaneswar

Health Report Card of Chilika Lake to be Published Soon

Chilika Lake (Odisha): The second ecosystem health report card of Chilika Lake would be published soon. It would capture the entire episode of the effect of cyclone Phailin on the lake ecosystem.

Coastal ecosystem is very sensitive and fragile in nature though they have got an amazing resilience. The scale of resilience depends on its state of the health of the ecosystem. However, impacts of sudden change at times cause profound damage to the ecosystem which is irreversible.

The recovery of the Chilika Lake ecosystem from the impact of the severe cyclonic storm Phailin demonstrates that it has amazing resilience. This has been concluded in a multidisciplinary study involving several scientists from premier institutes of the country.

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Alien Fish Vanishing From Chilika Lake

Chilika Lake, the largest brackish water lagoon of Asia, where alien fish species had arrived in large number following cyclonic storm Phailin, that hit the State’s coast two years ago, are found to have made their way out of the lake system.

According to findings of studies assigned by Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project, Odisha, in association with Chilika Development Authority, after Phailin, the fish catch of the lagoon had gone up significantly and a substantial increase was recorded in catch of exotic fish and fresh water species during Phailin. The high concentration of fish species, Oreochromis mossambicus, was noticed during this time.

Scientists involved in the studies say these indicate that these species must have reached the lagoon in such large quantity by swaying away from other localities.

“While the Ctenopharyngodon idella may not cause much harm to the lake community, entry of Oreochromis mosambicus and Clarius gariepinus had posed a serious threat. However, fortunately it is now observed that these alien species have gradually disappeared from the system and the natives have again colonised within one year,” ICZMP said quoting scientists.

It said the lake ecosystem appeared to be resilient and showed signs of recovery from the sudden in its system subsequent to cyclone Phailin.

“This has attracted the attention of the scientist and the experts around the globe and many institutions have shown interest to study the amazing ecosystem of Chilika Lake. The CDA in collaboration with National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai is now planning to come up with the ecosystem modelling of the lake for better understanding system,” said the project office ICZMP.

On the evening of October 12, 2013, Phailin brought torrential downpour, damaging winds of more than 220 km/h and storm surges of up to 3.5 metre. The land fall was quite close to the lake and it had severe deleterious impact on the lake. Phailin followed by torrential rain brought significant ecological changes in the Chilika ecosystem.

After Phailin, the salinity level of the lake has been dropped which was a major concern as it had major impact on the brackish and marine elements of the lake ecosystem. The seagrass meadows were also completely wiped out. Scientists are now showing their interest to study the natural phenomenon after Chilika Lake has bounced back its earlier days.