BERHAMPUR: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President and Orissa Chief Minister, Mr.Naveen Patnaik, filed his nomination papers for the Hinjili Assembly constituency (Ganjam district) at Chatrapur on March 28. Mr. Patnaik is contesting from Hinjili seat for the third time in a row. He reached Chatrapur, the district headquarter of Ganjam district, by a helicopter to submit his nomination papers. Before that he did not forget to offer his obeisance and special ‘Puja’ at the famous Tara Tarini Hill Shrine. Thousands of his supports and several leaders of the party accompanied Mr. Patnaik when he visited the temple of the twin Goddesses and spend around an hour on the hilltop. It is noteworthy that the famous and the holiest Tara Tarini Hill Shrine (http:/taratarini.nic.in) is one of the oldest pilgrimage sites of mother goddess and amongst the four major ancient Shakti centers in India. The Mythological Texts recognize four major Shakti peethas (centers), like Bimala, Taratarini (Orissa), Kamakshi (Assam) and Dakhina Kalika (West Bengal, Kolkata) among the 52 sacred Shakti Peethas, which originated from the limbs of the Corpse of Mata Sati in the Satya Yuga.
BERHAMPUR: The holy pole for the famous biennial Thakurani Jatra of Berhampur was installed at Desibehera street on March 22. This marked the beginning of the Jatra preparations. Durga Prasad Desibehera, the chief organiser and the hereditary head of the Thakurani Jatra festival, accompanied by hundreds of devotees reached the main temple of the Goddess and after rituals installed the pole at Desibehera street. The Jatra is usually organised for 21 days but this year the organising committee has decided to hold the festival for 26 days from April 8 to May 4. During this festival, Goddess Budhi Thakurani, the presiding deity of the Silk City is taken to her temporary abode at Desibehera street and stays there till the Jatra ends.
Berhampur: Nature’s creation of a suitable place and weather condition in the Rushikulya River mouth near Berhampur city of Ganjam district along the Bay of Bengal had invited the rare turtle species for nesting. However, the same nature has turned cruel towards the endangered species as lakhs of turtle eggs are perishing on the beach near the river mouth along the seacoast and floating on the water due to unusual tidal waves near the area, which is a favourite nesting place for turtles. Notably, lakhs of Olive Ridley turtles had camped at the coast along the beach near the Rushikulya river mouth in the district of Ganjam. The rare species had preferred this river mouth along the beach instead of the Gahirmatha site owing to tidal waves, beach erosion and activities by the defense establishment at the ‘Wheeler’s Island’. Since 1994, the turtles have been sighted nesting here along the coast and laying lakhs of eggs, as the weather conditions are favorable along the beach. Even during this season which started from February, the turtles had begun nesting and laying eggs at the beach near Rushikulya river mouth. Department sources had informed that more than 2,80,000 eggs had been sighted at the beach along the sea coast which is located within 30 km from the famous coastal town of Gopalpur-on – sea and Silk city Berhampur in Ganjam district. The forest department along with the help of the wildlife officials had been trying to provide a suitable location and secure the eggs during the season. However, lakhs of eggs have been sighted scattered along the beach and floating in the seawater due to unusual tide in March this year. Normally, the turtles lay eggs in the evenings and hide them 1.5 feet under the sand. They leave the beach after placing the eggs and go deep into the sea in the morning.However, unusual tidal waves at a height of 1.5 feet to 2 feet have endangered the life of turtle eggs. The tidal waves have washed away the sand at least two feet deep in the beach as a result of which the eggs are being washed away. The eggs in thousands are being sighted scattered on the beach and floating in the seawater near the Rushikulya river mouth in recent days. Normally, such unusual tides are generally not expected by natural experts and wildlife officials working on the rare Olive Ridley turtles. Crows, dogs and other scavengers devour the eggs as food at the cost of precious lives of the endangered species.
The famous handloom silk sarees manufactured in Berhampur in Orissa would soon be included in the Government of India’s Geographical Indications (GI) registry.
This registry would provide statutory recognition of the geographical origin of these handloom textiles to their respective places of traditional manufacture.
Scientific officer of the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Bijaya Kumar Sahu, stated this during his address at a two-day regional seminar on ‘Intellectual property and innovation management in knowledge era’, which concluded on the Berhampur University campus on Friday.
Mr. Sahu said under the Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, agricultural, natural or manufactured goods originating or manufactured in the territory of a country or a region or locality in that territory, could register as Geographical Indications (GI). It provides the registered proprietor and its authorised users would get exclusive legal right to use the GI. They also have the right to obtain relief in case of its infringement. The GI registration would be a boon for handloom textile manufacturers of Berhampur and Sambalpur as it would ensure that only genuine products are marketed in the name of Sambalpuri saree or Berhampuri Pattu.
BERHAMPUR: The ecology of Chilika Lake -Asia's biggest brackish water lake - faces a serious threat due to a naturally formed new confluence point with the Bay of Bengal, according to marine scientists. "If the new mouth will exist for a long period and widen further, it has the potential to change the salinity level of the lake and may put its rich flora and fauna under stress," Dr.R C Panigrahi, Professor of Marine Science Department at the Berhampur University, said. Spread over 1200 sq km, Chilika is famous for Irrawadi dolphins, a rare species. The vast lake is also the source of livelihood for lakhs of fishermen living around the districts of Ganjam, Puri and Khurda. The new confluence point near Gabakunda, a village on the bank of the Chilika, was seen on August one. It is less than a kilometre away from the existing confluence point at Sipakuda. The new mouth was only 50 metres wide at first, but now has expanded to about 400 metres, the chief executive of the Chilika Development Authority, Sudarshan Panda, said. "Initially, there is no threat to Chilika with the opening of the new mouth. But we cannot say much about its effect in the long term," he said.The salinity level of Chilika water presently varies from nine to 11 PPT while the salinity of the sea water measured at 18 PPT. "The new mouth opened during monsoon pressure and may close in coming months," the CDA chief said. Senior scientists are being engaged to study the effect on the ecology of the lake with the opening of the new mouth, Panda said.The change in the salinity of the water will depend on the longevity of the new mouth, Panda said. The change in water quality would be known only after the summer season when the sea water enters the lake, the vice-chancellor of Berhampur University, Bijay Kumar Sahu, also a marine scientist, said. P K Mohanty, another Professor at the Marine Science Department of Berhampur University, however, ruled out any "immediate threat" to the nearby coastal villages due to the opening of the new mouth in the lake. "We think there is no threat to the nearby villages with the opening of the new mouth," he said. Mohanty was one of the members to study the impact on coastal villages following the formation of new confluence constituted by the Orissa State Dissaster Mitigation Authority. (PTI)
BERHAMPUR: In the blind rush to inaugurate buildings before the declaration of elections, politicians seem to turn a blind eye to what they are unveiling. Without any flutter they do not mind to unveil an old inauguration plaque not meant for the ceremony. Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Chandrasekhar Sahu inaugurated the trauma care centre in the MKCG medical college campus in the city. It was for sure this inauguration ceremony at Mr. Sahu’s hometown had been planned just a few hours before. The organizers did not get time to get a new granite plaque with names of inaugurator and guests chiselled on it. They used an old granite plaque, which had been prepared for a cancelled inauguration function in the past for the same trauma center.
The granite inauguration plaque, which was unveiled by the Union Minister and before which the Minister performed ritualistic Puja, was the old one. The data chiselled on it had no relation with this inauguration ceremony. As per the plaque, the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern division, Satyabrata Sahu, and Ganjam District Collector, V.K.Pandian, were present during the inauguration ceremony. But both these top officials were nowhere around this hurried function, which seemed more of a Congress party meeting. There was also mention of BJD MLA of Berhampur, R.C.C.Patnaik, as a guest of honour on the plaque, who surely was not an invitee to this hurried function.
The greatest blunder was that as per the plaque unveiled by Mr. Sahu, the inauguration ceremony was being held on Feb 11, not on Monday. On Feb 11, this trauma centre funded by the Central Government was to be inaugurated by the Union Minister Oscar Fernandes. That ceremony was cancelled as Mr. Fernandes did not turn up. It was quite evident that the name of Mr. Fernandes had been covered up with black colour but there was no time and scope to rectify other errors or to get a new inauguration plaque.
Luckily, Mr. Sahu was to be a guest in the Feb. 11 function and his name was on it. The organizers therefore did not shy off to use the old plaque after covering up the name of Mr. Fernandes. They did not realise that the date and names of other persons on the inauguration plaque were also important. After a few hours of the function a group of men were seen trying hard to cover up and rewrite the inauguration date on the plaque.
BERHAMPUR: The city is on the verge of facing severe water scarcity this summer. Ironically it is going to coincide with the coming elections, when promises to solve drinking water crisis would have a free flow. This time leaders of political parties would have sheepish moments when the issue would come up for discussion during the election campaign. Another five years of promises and rhetoric about remedies for the perennial drinking water crisis in the city have passed. No practical solution has come up yet to solve the drinking water crisis. Lack of rains during the winter months has drastically depleted the ground water level of the city. Wells, ponds and tube wells have started to dry up from the beginning of March. The bed of Rushikulya River is also dry. It is going to affect the drinking water supply to the city as both the existing drinking water projects for the city are directly or indirectly related to this river. The drinking water supply to the city has not increased much since last Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. But many projects have come up in files during the period. The city needs around 46 million litres of water per day (MLD). As per official records it gets a supply of only 33 MLD which falls to around 27 MLD in summer. According to sources at present the supply is less than that. The list of unfulfilled promises and projects packed in files, aimed at solving the drinking water crisis of the city is quite long. The Congress MP of Berhampur and Union Minister, Chandrasekhar Sahu a few years back had come up with proposal to connect the large tanks of the city to take their water to Dakhinpur reservoir for its supply after purification. But the idea seems to be forgotten. He as well as the BJD MLA of Berhampur, R.C.C.Patnaik continue to compete with each other in speeches to take credit for the proposed Ghatakeswar project. Although the project was proposed to be completed by 2010 the real work on the project has not started yet. It may be noted that the foundation stone for this project has been laid twice in the past. Foundation stone was laid for the renovation of the old reservoir at Dakshinpur to increase its water bearing capacity to increase water supply from it to the city. But according to sources the water supply from Dakhinpur reservoir has not increased till date. It was also reported that the Centre had sanctioned money for a new water treatment plant to provide 15 MLD of extra water to the city after its completion. But it has not materialised. The long term project like the Cheligada project and a project to bring water by pipeline from Bhanjanagar to Dakhinpur, which are repeated by politicians are yet to take root. The Hindu, 13 March
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) expects its Entrepreneur Data Management System (EDMS) to be functional in its Berhampur division in Orissa by 2010. The EDMS would enable the public sector life insurer to maintain paperless records of its customers.LIC is setting up its new branch building here which would run on the EDMS platform and the branch is expected to be operational within a year. LIC had introduced EDMS two years back to enable the setting up of paperless branches across the country. This system is now in its second phase of implementation and the third phase would be implemented in Orissa. The proposed new building of LIC in the city would store the records of all the clients of the Berhampur division. These records would be stored in paperless form in the computers. “We will scan all the records of the customers and the records would be available under one roof. The customers can get all information relating to payment of premiums or getting claims from a single branch”, CH Jakkapannavar, senior divisional manager of LIC’s Berhampur division told Business Standard. The Berhampur division of LIC has 14 branches catering to 20 lakh customers in ten districts of South Orissa.“The proposed branch building of LIC which would carry out paperless transactions will have a total built-up area of about 15,000 sq ft. The building is coming up adjacent to LIC’s divisional office. It is being set up at a cost of Rs 8 crore and is expected to be functional within a year”, he added. Source: Business Standard
The World Bank is likely to fund the Rs 303 crore drinking water project for Berhampur in South Orissa. The scheme envisages bringing water from Surada reservoir, located about 100-km from here. The detailed project report (DPR) was submitted to the World Bank team which had visited the city recently to study the feasibility of the project. "We have already submitted the DPR and it is now under the active consideration of the World Bank", said a senior official of the Urban Water Supply department. The implementation of the scheme is necessary as the city reels under acute scarcity of drinking water during the peak summer season. With a population of over 5 lakh, the city needs 45 million litres of water daily. However, the city gets only 33 million litres per day, which goes down to 20-24 million litres during the peak summer, sources said.The water to the city is being supplied from the Rushikulya water supply system at Madhapur, about 30 km from here and the Dakhinapur Impounding Reservoir located on the outskirts of the city. The water supply was disrupted for about four to five hours from the Rushikulya water supply system on Sunday due to the power failure, said an engineer. Meanwhile the government is mulling to tackle the situation with assistance from the World Bank by bringing water from the Surada reservoir through pipes. At present, the water supply is through the canal. "We feel that sufficient water can be drawn from Surada reservoir when it comes through the pipe", sources said. This apart, the government is also planning to implement the Ghatakeswar medium irrigation project with an investment of Rs 24 crore. National Bank for Agriculture and rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned the project. Following the completion of this project, about 8 million litres of water would be supplied to the city every day. Meanwhile, a project for water treatment at the Dakhinapur reservoir is underway, involving an investment of Rs 5.20 crore. The project is being executed under the Urban Infrastructure Development for Samll and Medium Towns (UIDSMT) to treat about 20 million litres of water daily.
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