Jumbo number up in Odisha

• In Angul, it jumped from 590 to 633 whereas in Baripada, the number rose from 540 to 549
• In Berhampur Circle, the rise was from 121 to 149 while in Bhubaneswar, it rose marginally from 41 to 43
• In 7 divisions Kalahandi (North), Khariar, Sunabeda, Chilika, Bhadrak, Jeypore and Nabarangpur no elephant was found
• Whereas in 8 divisions, there was no change in their status
• 20 divisions reported a rise in the number of jumbos
• In 18, there was a fall in number which could be attributed to migration as well as deaths

Despite rampant killings, elephant population in the State of Odisha has gone up. From 1,886 in 2010, the jumbo number has jumped to 1,930, the latest census has revealed. During the last two years, the number of tuskers, mostly targeted by hunters, has grown by just two from 332 to 334 while the number of young ones has recorded an increase of 15 from 448 to 463 which is an encouraging sign.
Across all segments, the number of elephants registered a rise. The number of females rose to 1,087 from 1,064 while the figure of unsexed ones too increased to 46, Forest and Environment Minister Debi Prasad Mishra said this paper.

The census was conducted across 46 forest divisions (out of 50) from June 1 to 3. In as many as seven divisions  Kalahandi (North), Khariar, Sunabeda, Chilika, Bhadrak, Jeypore and Nabarangpur  no elephant was found whereas in eight divisions, there was no change in their status. Twenty divisions reported a rise in the number of jumbos. In 18, there was a fall in number which could be attributed to migration as well as deaths.

“We saw that northern Odisha pockets saw a rise in population whereas southern Odisha reported a decline. In Bargarh, which had never reported elephant sighting, at least 35 jumbos were enumerated by the census teams,” Chief Wildlife Warden Janardan Dibakar Sharma said.

In all circles, barring four, the jumbo population rose. In Angul, it jumped from 590 to 633 whereas in Baripada, the number rose from 540 to 549. In Berhampur Circle, the rise was from 121 to 149 while in Bhubaneswar, it rose marginally from 41 to 43.

However, Rourkela Circle, which includes Keonjhar, saw a decline from 245 to 228 while Sambalpur recorded a similar trend  from 249 to 229. In Bhawanipatna too, it fell from 104 to 87 whereas in Koraput, it dropped from 26 to 12.



The elephant reserves of Mayurbhanj and Mahanadi reported a rise while Sambalpur reported a drop.

What remains a cause of concern, however, is the high number of deaths, which included poaching. During the last four years, at least 221 elephants have died in the State. The year 2009-10 reported 51 deaths which rose to 83 in 2010-11. In 2011-12, the casualties stood at 66 while the current year has seen 21 deaths so far. Source: The New Indian Express

Devotees throng historic deity-less Jagannath temple at Marda in Ganjam district

• This was the place where lord Sri Jagananth, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra of Puri had been hidden for over two years in the 18^th century to keep them safe from Muslim invaders.
• The then Gajapati king of Puri Rachanra Dev is also said to have hidden himself near Marda.
• king of Athagarhpatna in Ganjam district, Jagannath Harichandan had built up the rock temple at Marda for safekeeping of the deities.
• The deities returned to their original temple in Puri in 1736. But the king of Athagarhpatna did not establish any deities in the Marda temple. He preferred to keep it empty as a mark of remembrance of this great event.
• Till date the temple remains empty.

Srigundicha, the inaugural day of Rath Yatra festival of Lord Jagannath, was also observed at the deity-less Jagannath temple at Marda in Ganjam district. Despite rain, hundreds of devotees reached the temple which finds a historic place in the history of Odisha. But like past years no Rath Yatra was celebrated at the temple. Devotees reached the temple at Marda a day before itself although no Rath Yatra was held here.

Even on this day of festivities, there were no sounds of traditional temple musical instruments like conch, bells or cymbals at the temple. Only some simple rituals were performed before the empty pedestal inside the temple. The tradition is said to have originated from the days when the deities from Sri Jagannath temple in Puri were hidden in this temple during the Mughal period. Sound of any musical instrument may have been avoided during the stay of deities at this temple to avid attention of spies, say historians.

At present, the historical temple has been renovated, restored and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). This was the place where the deities of famous Sri Jagananth temple in Puri had been hidden for over two years in the 18^th century to keep them safe from Muslim invaders. The then Gajapati king of Puri Rachanra Dev is also said to have hidden himself near Marda.

At that time the king of Athagadapatna in Ganjam, Jagannath Harichandan, had come out to provide protection and shelter to the deities and the Gajapati of Puri.

Jagannath Harichandan had built up the rock temple at Marda for safekeeping of the deities. The temple, which was built in a hurry, resembles the Gundicha temple in Puri. At that time Marda was an extreme inaccessible place in the interiors of Ganjam district.

The deities returned to their original temple in Puri in 1736. But the king of Athagarhpatna did not establish any deities in the Marda temple.

He preferred to keep it empty as a mark of remembrance of this great event. Till date the temple remains empty.

Inhabitants of Pathara, a village near Marda, still take pride that their artisan ancestors had built up this temple. Source: The Hindu

60 special trains for Jagannath Rath Yatra

In its bid to meet extra rush of passengers during the Rath Yatra, the East Coast Railways (ECoR) will run 60 special trains from different parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. This arrangement will be over and above the existing trains coming to Puri.

Special trains to Puri will run from Visakhapatnam, Palasa, Cuttack, Keonjhar, Paradip, Bhadrak, Berhampur city, Sambalpur and Gunupur, the ECoR said. One special train will leave Visakhapatnam at 6 pm on June 20 and arrive at Puri at 7.45 am on Rath Yatra day. In the return direction, this passenger special will leave Puri at 12.15 am on June 22.
Similarly, two special passenger trains will start from Palasa while the rest of the stations will see one special train each for the annual Car Festival. Similarly, special trains will also run to and from Puri to clear the extra rush of passengers on the occasion of ‘Sandhya Darshan’, ‘Bahuda Yatra’ and ‘Sunabesha’ which attract huge number of tourists and pilgrims to the town.
At least eight trains will have be rescheduled due to the extra arrangement while some others will have to be cancelled, the ECoR sources said.Source: New Indian Express

Bhubaneswar registers all-time record temperature of 46.7 degree C

Mercury level breached the 40-year-old-record

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All busy roads wear a deserted look as people stay indoors

The capital city has hardly seen the present spell of heat condition in the recent past. The maximum daytime temperature on 06 June reached 46.7 degree Celsius in Bhubaneswar eclipsing the previous all-time record of 46.5 degree Celsius on May 22 in 1972. On 11 June  the maximum temperature was 45.9 degree Celsius.

“Hot winds from north western parts of the country were steadily blowing towards this part without any atmospheric obstructions. Local condition was also favourable for soaring of temperature,” said S. C. Sahu, director of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre.

Mr. Sahu said, “the cloud-free sky and low moisture on Tuesday helped increase in temperature.

Moreover, soil of Bhubaneswar was not known to be good absorber of heat.” Urban skyline of Bhubaneswar, assists rise in temperature.

As mercury level breached the 40-year-old-record, busy roads in the capital city wore deserted look.

To escape from the scorching sun, commuters were seen taking shelter under tree cover and nearby shops. Youngsters were seen in shopping malls to beat the heat.

Unbearable heat

The unbearable heat condition forced Bhubaneswarites stay indoor.

The situation did not even improve during evening hours. Frequent power-cuts in several parts of the city stretched the agonising hours of people.

While the capital city turned into a boiling pot, situation was no better in many coastal parts of the city. Chandbali too witnessed record temperature on Tuesday.

Maximum daytime temperature was recorded at 47.2 degree Celsius beating the 70-year-old record of 45.7 degree Celsius registered on June 12, 1942.

The maximum daytime temperature in Pipili in Khurda and Odagaon in Nayagarh district, the near by areas of Bhubaneswar crossed 46 degree Celsius.

Industrial town of Talcher recorded 47.3 degree Celsius – the highest daytime temperature recorded on Tuesday.

Western Odisha town Titlagarh was usually hot with 47 degree Celsius. Revenue and Disaster Management Department, meanwhile, said 30 persons died due to sunstroke, while unofficial estimates put the toll at more than 100. Source: The Hindu

Cyrus Mistry meets Naveen Patnaik; TATA asked to give detail implementation plan for Gopalpur Industrial Park

• Chairman Designate of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry meets Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik

• TATA group proposes a 500 bedded hospital and a skill development center in Ganjam under CSR
• Odisha Chief Minister reviews the progress of the proposed Industrial Park at Gopalpur
• Tata Steel as anchor tenant is developing the Industrial Park at Gopalpur
• The Centre has already granted in-principle approval for a multi-product SEZ at Gopalpur
• The feasibility study and design plan of the Gopalpur SEZ has been completed by Ernst & Young
• Technical feasibility report on Gopalpur SEZ has been prepared by Jurong International, Singapore
• RITES Ltd., a Govt of India Enterprise has completed the survey work for road and railway connectivity
• National Institute of Oceanography has completed CRZ study for the Gopalpur SEZ

The Odisha Government has asked Tata Steel to submit a detailed implementation plan with specific time line for the development of the proposed industrial park at Gopalpur in Ganjam district. Chairman Designate of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry who was on his maiden visit to Odisha held detailed discussion with Chief Minister on various projects including the industrial park at Gopalpur. Though it has been termed as “courtesy call”, but sources said Mr.Mistry and his able Deputy, the Managing Director of Tata Steel, H M Nerurkar held detailed discussion with the Chief Minister in presence of top mandarins.

The Centre has already granted in-principle approval for a multi-product SEZ at Gopalpur and Tata Steel as anchor tenant is planning to develop an industrial park. To be developed over an area of 2,952 acres, the industrial park has the potential to attract investments of around Rs 15,000 crore, company sources said adding, eight to 10 prospective anchor investors in sectors like engineering and downstream industries have evinced interest to invest in it. The Industrial Park will be developed over an area of 2952 acres with Resource Based Metal Industry Cluster, Power Plant, Auto Engineering Steel Down Stream Cluster, Mixed Cluster, Water Reservoir, Integrated Logistics and Non-Processing Zone to house social infrastructure required for the units in industrial park. It has been proposed that anchor investment will be done in Long Product Mill ( Steel Bar & Rods) with 400,000 TPA, Ferro Chrome Plant with 55,000 TPA, and Desalination Plant with 1.2 MGP per day. Land requirement for all theses anchor investments will be around 400 acres and the water source will be the sea water along with harvested rain water. Reviewing the development of Industrial Park Chief Secretary has asked TATA to submit a detail implementation plan with specific time limits for commencement and completion of each activity. The issues relating to land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation were also reviewed in the meeting.

While Tata Steel is setting up an Industrial Park and developing it as SEZ at Gopalpur, the State Government’s demand is for another steel complex by Tata Steel, said an official source. Chief Minister has asked to scale up their initiatives under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Odisha. Mr.Patnaik during his hour long meeting with Cyrus Mistry, Chairman Designate of Tata Sons today said that a 500 bedded hospital in Ganjam and four centres for skill development centres to be set up.

Source: Tathya.in, Orissadiary.com, New Indian Express

Odisha News June 2012

Berhampur boy tops state in AIEEE

Source: The Sambad

Texas University students impart tech lessons in Gopalpur-on-Sea

Four students from Texas University, USA, are currently in the coastal villages near Gopalpur-on-Sea, Berhampur, Odisha on a mission to train students from fishermen families in basic computer skills and communicative English.

Around 30 college students of Venkataraipur and New Boxipalli villages are taking lessons from them at a village community hall at Venkataraipur in the morning and evening.

John, Reanna, Nessa and Lauren came here and stayed for two months as part of a summer internship project. "We requested them to help students from fishermen's families learn the basics of computer and improve their communication skills," said S B Rao, a social activist from the village. The group is a part of Nourish International, a students' body which works towards addressing global poverty and understanding various development projects across the world, he said. "We are happy to impart training to the students in Gopalpur-On-sea. They are amazing. They are picking up the skills very fast. Many of them can prepare power point slides by themselves," said Lauren. "We want to improve their communication skills as far as possible before leaving the country," Reanna said.

The foreign students have already prepared teaching material for the trainees. They are also using computer sets to enable the young boys and girls have hands-on training of using computers. They started taking classes on May 22, and will continue till July 3.

During the period, they have also decided to conduct a training programme for school teachers to improve their teaching skills and make learning much more interactive and interesting for the students. Besides, the students will launch a sanitation drive in the villages in association with the members of the Self Help Groups (SHG) and village development committees.

The group is also conducting a village assessment programme to identify the availability of the resources and problems in education and to work out for the solution, said B Gopamma, another activist from the village. Source: ToI

 

Artists turn walls of Silk city Berhampur into canvas

Source: The Telegraph

The walls of the Silk City have come alive with paintings depicting the state’s culture, festivals, temples and tribal murals to counter ugly graffiti, unauthorised wall-posters and open-air urinals. Vibrant colours and striking images decorated with mirror pieces and other adornments are lending a royal touch to several drab walls in the city. Artist Pratap Kishore Bishoyi, the 40-year-old who has created paintings on the walls of the official residence of the additional district medical officer at Gate Bazar along with two of his assistants, said their work has received appreciation from passers-by. “We feel glad that our hard work has paid off when people passing by stand and observe the art on the walls. The advent of modern printing and large printed flex boards had snatched away earnings of painters. So, it feels good that as part of this project we are being paid Rs 30/sqft of painting,” said Bishoyi. For another artist, Pratap Kishore, walls are spaces that can act as the preservers of culture, tradition and heritage of the state. “It gives us immense pleasure to create something that will be a part of the city for a long time to come. We use colours that will not be affected by harsh weather conditions and stay fresh even in sun and rain. Hopefully, the public will take care of our efforts,” he said. The city residents seem to be delighted with the beautification project. But they too are worried about the maintenance of the decorated walls. “The wall painting concept was a big hit five years ago. But those paintings are in a sorry state because of poor maintenance,” said Bhim Nayak, a resident of Komapalli. It gives tourists a bad impression, he added. “The law prohibits littering of streets, public walls, office premises, compound walls of residences and government buildings and others. However, these places are being misused with passers-by spitting, putting up posters, unauthorised hoardings and so on,” said Kailash Rana, chairman, Berhampur Development Authority. “The paintings on walls are an innovative strategy to beautify the city’s defaced walls,” he said. The public works department has taken the initiatives of getting walls painted at the residence of the revenue divisional commissioner, southern division, Khallikote Autonomous College, Sashi Bhushan Women’s College, MKCG Medical College and Berhampur Municipal Corporation office. Source: The Telegraph

 

Today is World Environment Day – Work for a greener environment; Plan for the Planet!

Space crunch affects Taptapani deer park

Berhampur: The Taptapani deer park might lose its mini zoo status (MZS) because it is yet to better its infrastructure, including expanding its area. The Central Zoo Authority of India (CZAI) has accorded the mini zoo status to the deer park in 2009 after the DFO of Paralakhemundi gave an undertaking to increase the space for free movement of animals. But three years have lapsed since then and the required area is yet to be acquired. The park sprawls over 1.86 hectares where 136 different deer species live. It includes 116 spotted deer, 16 sambars and a barking deer. Though the park started with a few deer in 1980, there number is steadily increasing. The forest department wanted an additional 8.4 hectares of land to accommodate the animals and develop it as an eco-tourism centre. At present, the animals have to move about in less than one hectare because a portion of the park is meant for visitors. Also, the space crunch has given rise to infighting among the deer. Three have died in recent times. "We have sought land in the adjoining areas of the existing park to make it an eco-tourism spot," said Jitsatru Mohanty, the DFO of Paralakhemundi. He said the application for the land alienation was pending with the Ganjam administration. He said the administration should give us the land at the earliest because CZAI officials are going to visit the park soon. "Once the MZS status is withdrawn, we won't be able to house the huge zoo population in the park," Mohanty added. Ganjam collector Krishan Kumar said the administration was aware of the fact. "We are pursuing the matter with the government for early hand over of the land," he added. At present, the forest department is planning an alternative. "The deer park is overcrowded. We have planned to accommodate them by creating at least four enclosures and feeding chambers," the DFO said. (Source: Times of India)

Blackbucks of Ganjam migrating to newer areas in Odisha

Blackbucks, an endangered species found in Balipadar-Bhetanai area in Ganjam district of Odisha, seem to be migrating to newer areas, official sources said. At least two blackbucks were rescued by the villagers from various places in the district. One of them was found at Balipada near Berhampur, while another at Babanapur near Aska. “We have rescued a male blackbuck from Balipadar near here. The animal will be handed over to the Nandankanan zoo authority in Bhubaneswar,” said divisional forest officer, Berhampur SS Mishra. The blackbuck also reportedly migrated towards Jagannath Prasad and Belaguntha areas in search of food and water as some of the water bodies in their habitat have dried up, sources said. “When the blackbucks migrate to other areas they may be easy target to the poachers. They also meet with accidents on the roads”, the wildlife experts feared claiming at least five blackbucks had reportedly died in a fortnight. Officials, however, said only two died. “We have information about the migration of the blackbuck. But we have no information about their death due to scarcity of water,” said divisional forest officer, Ghumusar South R Ch Sethi. He said there were several ponds in their areas.”Though the water level receded, ponds have not dried up. The animals are using them,” added another officer at Aska. Increase in population might be one of the causes for migration of blackbucks to newer areas, said an expert. The population of blackbuck in the area was counted at 2181 in the last census conducted in July 2011. The population of blackbuck was estimated at 1672 in 2008. Their number was 551 in 1998, 786 in 2004, 1101 in 2006, sources said. Improvement of habitats, protection given by local people as well as forest staff was some of the reasons for increase of the population of the blackbuck in the area, forest officials attributed. The blackbucks have been protected religiously by the local people for several generations. They have strong belief the presence of blackbuck in the paddy fields brings prosperity to the village. “The villagers do not kill the animals even if they strays into the field,” said president, Blackbuck Protection Committee Amulya Upadhyaya. (Source: The Pioneer)