What’s leading to migration phenomenon in Bhadrak District

BHADRAK: Migration is no longer confined to KBK region. The search for better life and livelihood has had thousands of people of Bhadrak district migrate to various states. The exodus has reached an alarming rate despite the State Government’s tall claims of successful implementation of rural job guarantee scheme.

According to a survey, as many as 1.5 lakh people from the district have so far migrated to Gujarat, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Delhi. There are about 14 lakh people living in 193 panchayats under seven blocks of the district. 

The report compiled by a non-government agency said while the highest around 40,000 people have migrated to Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, 25,000 have migrated to Hyderabad and Secunderabad in Andhra Pradesh, followed by 12,000 to Bangaluru, 25,000 each to Mumbai and Kolkata and another 15,000 each to Chennai and Delhi.

Among the migrated populace, most are youths below 25 years of age. They are mostly school and college dropouts having failed to continue studies, courtesy poor economic condition of their families. In the absence of work opportunities in the village, the youths prefer to migrate to eke out a living, the report stated.

The phenomenon has become rampant in Tihidi, Chandabali, Dhamnagar, Bhandaripokhari, Bont, Basudevpur, Dhamra, Chudamani and Agarpada areas. Social activist Rabindra Behera said most people of flood-prone areas in the district migrate to the neighbouring states for livelihood.

Except for the four months during paddy season, the youths in the region are mostly jobless all year round. “They have little choice. Moreover, they are not interested in the Government’s employment guarantee scheme of 100 days of work,” he pointed out.

Official records too pointed at vagaries of nature and its impact on agricultural production. While paddy was being cultivated in around 2 lakh hectares earlier, it has now come down to 1.5 lakh hectares. Similarly, production of vegetables, pulses and fibres has been affected due to regular floods.

The labour officials, however, said there was no estimation as to how many persons have migrated till now. District labour officer Bighnaraj Mohanta Mohapatra said officially about 400 labourers under 10 labour contractors are working outside the State. He, however, confirmed that people are migrating to other states. “Better opportunities and wages beckon them. The attraction for metro life is another major reason for migration,” he added.

Source: New Indian Express  

Prahalad Nataka: A form of traditional theatre of Ganjam

By Priya Pryadarshini, Bhanja Bihar, Berhampur 

Ganjam is the hub of classical and traditional beauty. Be it in the terms of song, dance, drama or theatrical show, Ganjam has a unique position in all these regards. Among all ‘Prahalad Nataka’ stands tall in all respective quarters of the culture. The tale is based on the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, ‘Nursingha’. Prahalad the great devotee of Lord Vishnu goes against the will of his father and worships Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap the father of Prahalad declares himself as the God and rebels against the almighty for which he gets punished.

The play is developed from the stories of mythological books like ‘Bhagat Gita’, ‘Vishnu Purana’ and ‘Nursingha Purana’. The act is full of emotions varying from courage to anger.

Source: flickr

King Ramakrushna Chotray of Jalanta was the first to initiate the production of this act. He called the famous dramatist and musician Gaurahar Parcha of Paralakhamundi who scripted the play for the first time. It was the first enacted in the region of Jalanta. It is primarily an Odiya play. Yet, the neighboring Telugu speaking regions do translate it into their own language and do perform it in their own areas. It is a play which has classical music as its main element.

In Ganjam the play is also called as ‘Rajanataka’. It continues for three to seven nights. The play though not edited in the form of episode or serial number has got a special way of presenting style. The presenter first starts the act by reciting the ‘Gurudeva’, ‘Ganesh’ and ‘Sarada Vandana’. After that the summary of the script is presented. Next the characters are called on the stage and the presentation goes on.

‘Prahalad Nataka’ is famous because of its presentation style and subject matter. Mostly the dance format is used for description of each character that also speaks of the emotions like devotion and pride.

Source: Orissadiary.com  

Lakhs of turtles nest in Rushikulya beach near Taratarini Hill Shrine,Orissa

Over one lakh endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles have laid eggs on the beach adjoining the Rushikulya river mouth near Taratarini Hill Shrine in district Ganjam, Orissa since March 13 as scientists observed the phenomenon with interest. The eggs are expected to hatch in the first week of May, about 45 days after the mass nesting. Rushikulya river mouth is just 20km from the famous Shakti Shrine Taratarini and around 40 km from Berhampur city, Orissa.

While 6,000 turtles emerged from the sea to lay eggs in the wee hours of March 13, around 65,000 swarmed the four-km long sandy beach between Gokharakuda and Kantiagada the next day. The number of nesting turtles came down thereafter.

Kartik Shanker, a turtle biologist from the Indian Institute of Science - Bangalore and Basudeb Tripathy of the Wildlife Institute of India, who are here to study the pattern of mass nesting, said the laying of eggs could continue sporadically for a few more days.

Source: PIT

Connecting emerging cities and industrial hubs of Odisha by Air: Need for a dedicated regional air service

RP Tripathy

Recently many State governments like Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Gujarat and some north-eastern states have come forward with plans for dedicated regional air service and have made considerable progress in this. Orissa has been considered a laggard as far as air connectivity is concerned (for that matter many districts are not even properly connected by railways and roads) and just putting the blame on central apathy every time won’t do any good to the State. Further, it may not be feasible for the national carrier to start air services to regional towns and industrial centers of Orissa from other metros of India owing to issues of revenue, passenger demand and lack of infrastructure for landing etc. But, connecting the regional growth centers by air is indispensable for the industrial and educational development of the state. It is also critical for development of tourism sector and faster medical services etc. Can’t our State Govt think of a similar dedicated regional air service to connect the regional growth centers with the state capital or with the nearest metro i.e., Kolkata? A dedicated regional air service connecting =Bhubaneswar-Berhampur-Koraput-Jharsuguda-Rourkela-Badbil-Kolkata-Bhubaneswar= will ensure faster development of the state and will make the entire state approachable by air.