Wildlife Tourism in Odisha (Orissa) : Bird Lovers

In continuation to our earlier post about the Chilika lake, a designated "Destination Flyways" by United Nations World Tourism organization, here is another good news, not only for the promotion of wildlife tourism in Orissa, but also it is going to give a good push to protect the endangered birds. In its bid to take bird conservation in the State to a new level, Wild Orissa has launched an ambitious initiative which aims at building a ‘young army’ of students who can empathize with birds and work for their conservation as part of their day-to-day lives.

The programme, ‘Giving Flight to Young Minds - My school, My Bird’, launched under Wild Orissa’s (a local wildlife NGO) Wild Birds Conservation Programme encourages school students to talk about birds, identify the species and start an interaction on their habitats.

The initiative will focus on forest fringe areas and rural areas of Odisha. “We will source high resolution photographs from photographers and bird lovers of the State who will share their images for this conservation initiative,” Chief Spokesperson of Wild Orissa Kulamani Deo said.

Each school will be evaluated based on the initiatives taken by them over a six-month period. Subsequently, Wild Orissa will hold an interactive session for selected schools from a district.

“By this, we will attempt to link birds with their ecology, enabling children to appreciate the need for natural habitat conservation,” Deo said.

Special emphasis will be given to rare and endangered species. A total of 400 schools located in Khurda, Nayagarh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Puri, Dhenkanal, Angul, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Ganjam are targeted to be brought under the conservation programme. Its implementation will start from November.

Chief Wildlife Warden SS Srivastava formally unveiled the State-level launch of the event here recently. Eminent Ornithologist Dr UN Dev, CCF (Wildlife) HS Bist, members from Wildlife Society of Orissa, Nature and Wildlife Conservation Society of Orissa, Ruchika Social Service Organisation, Birds of Orissa and Kalinga Birds, Chairman of Wild Orissa Krushna Chandra Swain, Vice-chairman Nanda Kishore Bhujabal and programme coordinator Dilip Kumar Nayak were present.

Odisha's Chilika Lake - "Destination Flyways" of UNWTO

This is a old news piece but a very important one. At least finally one World body has recognized the bio-diversity of Chilika Lake. 

Chilika lagoon has been named 'destination flyways' by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) after its inclusion in a list of eight such sites worldwide. It is the only site in Asia to be thus recognized by UNWTO.

The lagoon was so named because it is a sustainable and resilient destination for migratory water birds, said official sources.

"UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of universally accessible tourism. Over the years, Chilika has proved to be the ideal destination for migratory birds, which is the reason why it is also a globally-acclaimed tourist destination," said chief executive of Chilika Development Authority (CDA) Ajit Kumar Pattnaik. He said it was heartening to get the title as the UNWTO offers support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

The name was recommended by Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (SCBD), the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS), the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, the World Heritage and Man and the Biosphere Programmes of (WHC and MAB), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Wetlands International and Birdlife International.

"This initiative of UNWTO aims at promotion sustainable tourism at Chilika. The UNWTO has also commissioned a mission for Chilika in January, which is being led by Virginia Trapa (a member of UNWTO). During its visit to Chilika, the mission discussed the management of Chilika Lake. The team interacted with reformed bird hunters, who are now bird watching at Magalajodi," said Pattnaik.

The number of winged visitors to Chilika Lake fell this season with 1.58 lakh fewer migratory birds sighted than the previous season. Ornithologists said the number of birds had perhaps dwindled due to the effect of cyclone Phailin.

 The annual bird count conducted in the 1,100sqkm lake a week ago put the count at around 7.19 lakh birds belonging to 58 species. Around 8.77 lakh birds of 180 species had visited the lake last winter and 8.83 lakh birds of 167 species had visited the blue lagoon in 2012, the sources said.

Odisha Mining Scam - CEC held Odisha Govt. responsible

It seems the mining scam in Odisha going to be a big political issue both at the center and state level, considering the gravity of the issue. 

We all know that there were large scale irregularities in licensing of mining activities by the government and at the same time there were gross misuse by the companies involved in the mining activities. With all the mining activities stopped, now the question arise how the state will move ahead with its developmental activities. 

But saying that, we also need to keep in mind that Odisha's economic development has already slowed down in the recent years and if the mining remains blocked, its going to hurt the state further. At this juncture, CEC has thrown literately bomb against the Naveen Patnaik government. 

A Central Empowered Committee (CEC) appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the Odisha mining scam has held the state government responsible for alleged illegal mining from 2000 to 2011.

Submitting its report to the apex court Friday, the CEC said mining companies illegally produced more than 2131 lakh metric tonnes (mt) of iron ore and 24 mt of manganese with a notional value of Rs. 17,576 crore during these eleven years.

The CEC said mining operations in Odisha had been taken up almost by all the lessees without environmental clearance.

 

“It is most disturbing to note that the entire production without or in excess of the statutory approvals has been transported under the transit permits (TPs) issued by the officers concerned of the state government after payment of royalty at applicable rates,” the CEC headed by PV Jayakrishnan said in its 178-page report.

The report added that the state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) was a major violator and headed the pack whioh included government of India undertakings and companies belonging to reputed corporate groups.

“The senior officers of the state government from the chief secretary downwards cannot escape responsibility for such wholesale and brazen violation of the acts, rules and guidelines and the directions of this Hon’ble Court and also points towards lax governance,” the CEC said.

This is the second indictment of the Naveen Patnaik government, with Justice MB Shah commission that probed the multi-crore mining scam having recommended an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation in February.

After the opposition first raised it in the Odisha assembly in 2009, the Patnaik government ordered a vigilance probe. But opposition parties and social activists have been demanding a CBI inquiry saying the state vigilance department is remote-controlled by the government.

Now it has to be seen how the Odisha government is handling its mining policies, especially under the Modi's developmental policies at the center.  May the time has just come for Naveen to shake hands with BJP !

Pattachithra painting camp at Mysore

I just came across this news piece on TOI about the spread of Odia arts in India. Its really a sad situation that no concrete efforts are being made by the Odisha government to promote the culture and arts of our rich land. Odisha has so many things to offer to the world, but except Odishi dance, nothing is known about Odisha. The following news made me happy that at least people from out of Odisha are inviting our artists to learn our arts. Here is how Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), Mysore has taken the initiative.

A learning camp about the traditional Odisha painting style known as Pattachithra is planned by the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS). Artists from Odisha have been roped in to train Mysoreans on preparing various Odisha art forms. Pattachithra is a traditional art form using textile design that focuses on religious subjects like the Jagannath of Puri, Vaishnava culture and Krishna and Radha or subjects from nature like fields, farms, valleys and waterfalls. The training programme is spread over a ten day period. 

Pattachitra does not make use of regular colours. Poster colours, water colour, acrylic, crayons, charcoal and oil paints have no place here. Instead, colours in Pattachitra are prepared by traditional methods and include a range of raw materials like vegetables, stones and minerals. Pattachitra's whites, for example are made from conch shells. The shells are powdered, boiled and then filtered before they can be used. Reds come from Hingula, a mineral, a yellow stone, known locally as haritala is ground to provide yellow pigments. For blacks, pattachitra practitioners use a dye made from burnt coconut shells. Traditional Pattachithra paintings use a limited set of colours: red, yellow, indigo, black and white. 

Participants in the programme will learn to prepare different colours and learn colour-mixing techniques. They will learn how to convert normal colour into water-proof colours. After successful completion of the training, candidates will be issued a central government certification. They will also be able to take home the the paintings they create during the course of the training. "Mainly, Patachithra paintings were made on cloths. The name itself reveals the form of art. Pata means cloth, and Chithra means art in Sanskrit. Traditionally, pattachitra was a family undertaking. The men folk did the artwork and the women worked on preparing the dyes" says Nagendra from Southern Regional Centre of IGRMS. 

Special status for Odisha - Naveen Patnaik demands

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had a great chance of getting special status for Odisha before the election, when BJP was scouting for partners. But Naveen at that time did not realize the importance of BJP and never thought of reviving the old friendship broken just few years back. But he has not given up his hope and still continuing to demand since the previous Congress government. Citing the relative backwardness of Odisha and the Polavaram project, which in its present form would severely affect tribal population, Naveen on Monday stepped up the demand for special category status for his state.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Patnaik also sought early release of special central assistance of Rs 1,397 crore for organising Nabakalebar festival of Lord Jagannath, commencement of international flight operations from Bhubaneswar, completion of ongoing railway projects and sanction of new projects to actualise rail corridor and port connectivity in the state.

The Prime Minister assured that all the issues raised by the Chief Minister would receive his personal attention and that the Union Government would extend the required support for accelerating the socio-economic development of the state, a press release by the state government said.

The Chief Minister also demanded release of compensation amount on account of reduction of central sales tax (CST) from four to two per cent and release of central assistance for Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) and other schemes like MNREGS and for an additional 5 lakh beneficiaries under Indira Gandhi National Pension Scheme.

Patnaik raised issues like Polavaram Project and its consequences for the backward tribal dominated district of Malkangiri, the release said.

Referring to the relative backwardness of Odisha and the recommendation by Raghuram Rajan Committee, he reiterated the need to accord special category status to Odisha for ensuring adequate flow of funds and enabling it to catch up with the other developed states of the country.

He urged the Prime Minister for early release of special central assistance of Rs 1,397 crore to supplement the efforts of the state in organising Nabakalebar, a significant event in eastern India.

This is a ritual followed for centuries at the Jagannath Temple where the deities leave their old form and assume new ones every 12-19 years. Over 5 million pilgrims and tourists are expected to congregate at Puri town during a three-month period necessitating huge setup of infrastructure.

Patnaik told the Prime Minister that Nabakalebar is scheduled to be held in July 2015 and requires preparations on war footing, including creation of adequate infrastructure. The Chief Minister also raised the challenges of severe floods, cyclones and drought in the state.