Gopalpur beach festival beckons: The Telegraph

BERHAMPUR: Preparations are on in full swing for the Gopalpur beach festival that will commence on December 24, at the serene beach resort near Berhampur city. The five-day festival of music and dance is being organised by the Ganjam District Hotel Association in collaboration with the Song and Drama Division, the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), the state culture and tourism department, the Ganjam district administration and the district council of culture. “Singers from both Bollywood and the Oriya film industry have been roped in to entertain the crowd. We expect a large number of tourists from the country and abroad this year,” said Uma Shankar Panigrahy, president Ganjam District Hotel Association and the convenor of the festival. “We have given priority to folk art forms and cultural troupes from across the country who will take part in this beach festival,” said V. Santosh Kumar, co-convenor of the festival. Jodi Sankha (blowing of twin conch shells), Odissi and Sambalpuri dance, Danda Chadheya folk dance, Gotipua, Gond dance of Nabarangpur, Dongria Kondh dance from Rayagada, Ghumra of Kalahandi, animal mask dance, Chinese folk dance and so on will be features of this five-day festival. Artistes from various states will also perform. Visitors to the beach festival can also look forward to fusion dance Sankha Cheel by a troupe from Calcutta, Sidigamma dance from Gujarat, Debojit Saha and troupe from Mumbai, and Kuchipudi by Laxman Kumar from Andhra Pradesh. Renowned singer from the Oriya film industry Sakti Mishra and Rex De’Souza from the Mumbai film industry will also be performing. Berhampur’s Prince Dance Group, which was the winner in the India’s Got Talent show on Colors TV, will perform on the last day of the festival, according to the organisers. 

The state tourism department has included the five-day Gopalpur beach festival in the tourism calendar. “This will help us better market the event outside the state,” said an organiser. The first Gopalpur beach festival was started in the year 1996 to promote tourism and culture. The concept of the festival was conceived by V. Santosh Kumar. “The beach festival was discontinued for three consecutive years — 1999-2001 — and again in 2005, 2006 and 2007 due to various reasons,” Kumar said. He added that the total budget estimate of the festival is Rs 20 lakh. “The festival has several sponsors: corporate houses and public undertakings including Tata Steel, Gopalpur Port Limited, IRE Limited and many others. We have decided not to collect a single paise from the public to organise the festival, but we always welcome any voluntary contributions.” One hundred stalls are being prepared at the festival sites that have been booked by the corporate, government agencies and private concerns. “Special provision has been made for parking during the festival. The public can proceed up to Gopalpur Bus Stand with their vehicles where we have arranged for seven parking spots. We expect inflow of about 50,000 on each day and about a lakh on Sunday to Gopalpur. Arrangements have been made accordingly,” Kumar said. Artistes will be staying at the Youth Hostel of Gopalpur. “We will also accommodate many artistes in Berhampur. The total number of artistes is expected between 1,500 and 2,000,” he said.

Source: The Telegraph

Berhampur based RGB launches CBS operations

BERHAMPUR: The Rushikulya Gramya Bank (RGB), one of the five Regional Rural Banks (RRB) in Orissa, has initiated the process of adopting Core Banking Solution (CBS) in all its branches. The bank today introduced CBS in one of its branches at Berhampur and has set a target to bring its other 80 branches and proposed new branches to the CBS fold by the end of March next year. The Central government has fixed the deadline for all RRBs across the state to be CBS compliant before September next year.  The RGB is operating in two south Orissa districts, Ganjam and Gajapati, with a network of 71 and 10 branches respectively. The bank proposed to open three more new branches before the end of this financial year at Randha, Ganjam town and Nilakanthanagar in Berhampur. Launching the CBS operation, the bank’s chairman PVSTR Seshagiri Rao said, Andhra Bank has provided all technical support in this regard. Hyderabad based Andhra bank is the sponsoring bank of RGB. With the introduction of CBS, the customers of this rural bank can transact their business from any where and at any branch of the bank like its counterpart commercial banks. The business volume of the bank is expected to grow with introduction of this modern technology, he hoped. The bank has achieved business of around Rs 1260-crore (Rs 898-crore deposits and Rs 362-crore advances) so far as against target of Rs 1520-crore (Rs 950-crore deposits and Rs 570-crore advances) by the end of March, 2011.  

Source: Business Standard

BMC outsourcing garbage collection to pvt parties

BERHAMPUR: Berhampur Municipal Corporation is considering handing over sanitation of more wards to private parties.“We have stopped recruiting new sweepers. With the population of Berhampur growing alarmingly and the number of wards and vehicles to transport garbage increasing, privatisation of sanitation is the only option,” said city health officer Subhakanta Das, adding that out of the 37 wards, sanitation in 13 wards has been privatised and more were on the pipeline. BMC was presently managing 450km road and 450-km drain of the corporation. Sanitation was privatised in ward numbers 10, 13, 14, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30 and 32. Sanitation in another two to three wards would be privatised within two months, he said. “Privatisation has yielded good result and we are initiating steps to privatise sanitation in all wards in phases,” he said. Hadu Patra, corporator of ward number 28 of BMC, is happy with the privatisation of sanitation in his ward. “BMC is providing Rs 1.60 lakh per month to the private contractor taking care of sanitation in my ward. The staff employed by the contractor collect garbage from every house each day, even on holidays, which we can’t expect from the sanitation staff of BMC. The roads, drains and the scavenger lanes are being cleaned everyday and the public is free to complain to the higher authorities,” said the corporator. BMC has 759 sweepers and drain cleaners including 371 regular and 388 casual staff. Considering the national average which states that two sweepers are needed to clean and maintain half-a-km of road and drain, we require a total of 1,800 sweepers in Berhampur. But we are now managing the task with only 759 of them. We have vehicles to transport garbage, said the health officer. Privatisation of sanitation has helped us to deploy sweepers and drain cleaners in only 24 wards which resulted in reducing our burden, he added. BMC has deployed sanitation staff in various wards considering the density of population and the quantity of garbage the area generates. “In ward number 12, the number of sanitation staff is 37 while seven are managing the responsibility in ward number 37,” Das said. “We are dumping the garbage at Chandini Hills near Sukunda Math spread over an area of 20-acres 10-km from the BMC office and strictly instructed the drivers of these vehicles to make two trips during the morning and one trip in the evening on every working days”, said the Health Officer. The BMC has initiated steps to establish a garbage disposal plant at Chandini Hills under PPP mode. “We have already built the boundary wall and the gate. Electrification is under progress and the garbage disposal plant with a capacity of 400 MT may come up with in 2 to 3 years”, said Das.

Source: The Telegraph

Olive Ridley turtles arrive at Rushikulya rookery near Berhampur

Project Smile India

• Rushikulya is one of the biggest mating grounds of Olive Ridleys in the world
• Measures have been initiated to protect these mating Olive Ridleys
• At present small number of mating pairs are visible which is expected to increase
• Fishing has been banned in the area where these turtles are congregating

BERHAMPUR: Rare and endangered Olive Ridley turtles have started to arrive for mating near Rushikulya rookery (about 30km from Berhampur and 30km from the famous Tara Tarini hill Shrine) in Ganjam district is considered as one of the biggest mating grounds of Olive Ridleys in the world. According to officials of the forest department they are now gathering up at a distance of seven kilometres from the coast line. At present small number of mating pairs are visible. But a large number of turtles can be seen. Mating of Olive Ridleys picks up in this area in the last week of December and January. This year these endangered marine turtles have arrived in time.

The Olive Ridleys usually start their mating in the sea near their preferred nesting coast. According to experts these rare turtles have a single mating season in a year. After the end of the mating season most male turtles usually return back leaving behind the female turtles to lay their eggs. The nesting of Olive Ridleys starts from the end of January in sporadic manner which picks up in February.

Measures have been initiated to protect these mating Olive Ridleys in the sea. Fishing has been banned in the area where these turtles are congregating. This involves the stretch of sea up to a distance of ten kilometres from the coast line of Rushikulya rookery. Extension of fishing ban area extends to ten kilometres towards the north and ten kilometres towards south of the rookery.

Illegal entry of fishing trawlers to this region is being checked through regular patrolling at sea said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer. A team of forest officials is also monitoring the Rushikulya rookery coast line where the turtles would lay eggs after two months. They are also documenting the carcasses of turtles found on this coast to assess the number and cause of deaths of Olive Ridleys out here. DFO said this year deposition was quite good at Rushikulya river coast, which means the turtles would have a good stretch of beach to lay their eggs.

Source: The Hindu, Photo source: Project Smile India & Flickr

New and extended trains that pass through Berhampur City

Haldia-Chennai (new weekly superfast), Paralakhemundi-Puri (Earlier Palasa-Puri) and Bhubaneswar-Jagdalpur (Earlier Bhubaneswar-Koraput) trains pass through Berhampur city
BERHAMPUR: As announced in the last Railway Budget the 2755 Chennai-Haldia weekly Super Fast Express has started operation from December 9 from Chennai. The train will leave Chennai at 2.35p.m every Thursday and will arrive at Howrah at 06.10p.m on Friday. In the return direction, 2756 Haldia-Chennai weekly Super Fast Express will leave Haldia at 11.30 am every Saturday and will arrive at Chennai at 5 pm on Sunday. This train has one AC-2 tier, five Sleeper Class, six General Second Class and two guard cum luggage vans having stoppages at Ongole, Vijaywada, Rajahmundry, Vizianagaram, Berhampur, Khurda Road, Cuttack, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Kharagpur, Panskura and Tamluk between Chennai Central & Haldia.

Similarly, Ministry of Railways has decided to extend the services of Bhubaneswar-Berhampur-Koraput Hirakhand Express upto Jagadalpur and Puri- Berhampur-Palasa passenger to Parlakhemundi w.e.f. 18th December 2010 in East Coast Railway jurisdiction. 217 Puri-Palasa passenger which is leaving Puri at 07.50a.m and arriving Palasa at 03.25p.m will leave Palasa at 04.30p.m and will arrive at Paralakhemundi at 06.45p.m in the extended portion. In the return direction, 218 Paralakhemundi-Puri Passenger will leave Paralakhemundi at 07.45a.m and will arrive at Puri at 09.05p.m. This train will stop at Pundi, Rauthpuram, Naupada, Tekkali, Pedasana, Temburu, Ganguvada, and Pathapatnam between Palasa and Paralakhemundi. The timings of 217/218 Puri-Paralakhemundi-Puri passenger will remain unchanged between Puri & Palasa. The train will run as a special train on the flagging off day of the extended portion and the regular run will be from Puri w.e.f 19th December and from Paralakhemundi w.e.f 20th Dec’2010. 8447 Bhubaneswar-Berhampur-Koraput Hirakhand Express, which is leaving Bhubaneswar at 07.35p.m and arriving Koraput at 09.45a.m on the next day, will leave Koraput at 10.05a.m and will arrive at Jagadalpur at 12.40p.m in the extended portion. In the return direction, 8448 Jagadalpur-Berhampur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express will leave Jagadalpur at 03.30p.m and will arrive at Bhubaneswar at 08.25a.m on the next day. This train will stop at Jeypore and Jagadalpur in the extended portion. The timings of 8447/8448 Bhubaneswar-Jagadalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express will remain unchanged between Bhubaneswar and Koraput. The train will run as a special train on the day of flagging off of the extended portion and the regular run will be from Bhubaneswar on 18th December and from Jagadalpur from 19th Dec’2010.

Berhampur University gets its campus radio

BERHAMPUR: The department of journalism and mass communication has started the campus radio in Berhampur University. Vice-chancellor Jayanta Kumar Mohapatra officially inaugurated “Bhanjabani”. The vice-chancellor appreciated the efforts on part of the staff and students in this and also highlighted the decisive role of campus radio as to how it promotes one to be an effective communicator. He further encouraged the students to take part and gain much out of this opportunity. Third semester student Sulachana Nayak was the anchor of the day. Rajeev Lochan Rathan and Sangram Kesari Das Mohapatra, being at the desk, furnished news collected by the students. Mohapatra has also announced to set up a multimedia lab for the department by March 2011. Laxmi Narayana Rout, chairman of the post graduate council, encouraged the students to avail of the opportunity. Sunil Kant Behera, J.S. Giri Rao, Pradeep Mohapatra, Jaganmohan Mohapatra and Sanat Panda guided the students in running the campus radio.

Source: The Telegraph

Co-operative University proposed at Gopalpur near Berhampur city

New building for Berhampur Municipal Corporation office

Following story by Sunil Patnaik from The Telegraph            

BERHAMPUR: Berhampur Municipal Corporation, which was declared the first municipality of Orissa 143 years ago, has initiated steps to construct a new building to accommodate various departments including administrative, engineering, planning, revenue, health and community welfare. “The building would be built at a cost of Rs 15 crore. Berhampur was declared as the first municipality of Orissa in 1867 and two blocks for housing the office of the mayor and commissioner, besides the office of the nizarat, were built by the British rulers then,”said mayor Siba Shankar Dash. “These two blocks would be untouched and kept as heritage structures. The present building, housing the PWD and the health department built half-a-century ago along with the mini park would be razed and we would build an attractive structure there,”he added. The architect of the proposed building, Prabir Kumar Dash, said it would be a five-storey structure with stilts and basement with parking facilities for two-wheelers and light four-wheelers. “The construction of the new building would start from January end. The green building technology to build the structure would be the only of its kind in south Orissa,” he said. The five-storey building would come up over an area of 18,200 square feet to accommodate 20 VIP rooms, more than 80 general rooms, two small conference halls of 720 sq ft each and one large conference hall of 5,100 sq ft. “We will also implement solar energy techniques. The solar cell panels would be embedded above the roof slab of the central conference hall on the fifth floor, said Dash. However, the corporation vehicles would be parked outside the campus.

Source: The Telegraph

Flying Training Institute at Berhampur takes off

Excerpts from a report by Sunil Patnaik in The Telegraph

BERHAMPUR: After Bhubaneswar, Oissa’s second flying club started functioning from the Rangeilunda airstrip near Berhampur city last week. The club accommodates 100 plus pilot trainees of the Government Aviation Training Institute (Gati), Bhubaneswar. “As the Bhubaneswar airport runway suffers from traffic congestion most of the time, the civil aviation ministry was in search of a suitable substitute and considered Rangeilunda airstrip as the best,” Capt. M.S. Mander, flight instructor in-charge of Gati, said in an exclusive interview to The Telegraph. “We have at present 100 plus trainee pilots at Gati, Bhubaneswar, and we impart aviation training for one-and-half to two years. We mainly provide training on two courses — Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) and Private Pilot Licence (PPL). We are now doing six-day camp here and would again go back to Bhubaneswar,” Capt. Mander said. According to this provision, if one has 200-hours of flying experience, he or she is eligible to pilot a commercial plane and it is 50 hours for a private plane. Gati had five training planes including two Cessna-172 (four seater), two Cessna-152 (two seater) and one twin engine Pipper Seneca (six seater), Capt. Mander said. Indian economy is booming and aviation sector has greater prospects. “As corporate airlines are purchasing lots of aircraft and 34 airfields are coming up in the entire country, the future of Gopalpur and the trainee pilots is very bright. There is good connectivity between small airfields and more people are travelling in plane for business purposes,” said Capt. Mander.

However, Capt. Mander stressed on the need to improve the Rangeilunda airstrip. “We have urged the district administration to extend the present runway of the Rangeilunda airstrip so that regional aircraft can come. If that could be done, Gopalpur could bet air connectivity with Calcutta, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad and other important places. This would help Gopalpur to attract more tourists,” Capt. Mander said. Capt. Mander had surveyed the Rangeilunda airstrip along with Wing Commander Pradeep Chakraborty and Gopalpur MLA Pradip Panigrahi on October 12. A senior pilot of the ministry of civil aviation also visited the Rangeilunda airstrip a few months ago and asked the works engineer to develop it as a visual flight rule (VFR) airstrip and to provide at least two rooms to conduct the pilot training institute. Rangeilunda airstrip is situated on 40-acres and is under the control of the public works department. “Though the runway of the airstrip is used only 8-10 times in a year, we are maintaining it regularly. The length of the present runway is 750-meter and it is ready now for the flying training institute,” said P. K. Das, executive engineer, PWD. Rangeilunda is located at a distance of around 5km from Berhampur and is adjacent to Berhampur University. The Britishers built the Rangeilunda airstrip during the Second World War.According to sources, the defence establishments at nearby Golabandha, chief minister, VVIPs and corporate executives use the runway very often to reach Berhampur and other places in southern Orissa.

Berhampur University authority had provided four quarters in the Teachers’ Colony to the PWD on rent after the civil aviation ministry had sought four residential quarters and an office building for the Flying Training Institute. “We agreed to provide the quarters on rent as per provision,” said Prof. Jayant Mahapatra, vice-chancellor, Berhampur University. “The Aviation Training Centre, Bhubaneswar, also requested us alert students of the six boys’ hostels (including Rushikulya Hostel, Bansadhara Hostel, Nagabali Hostel and Jogendra Hostel) who usually use the airstrip as a thoroughfare. Though we have our separate approach road from the hostel to the PG departments, I have already communicated the message to the hostel inmates and all have agreed not to use the runway when the flying training institute begins to function,” the VC said. But the runway is yet to be free from trespassers. Onlookers gather there to catch a view of an aircraft landing or taking off. “The obstruction on the runway must be tackled immediately,” said Capt. Mander. R.D. Kabilan from Chennai, who is a trainee pilot, is happy with the course and Gati. “We have one chief flying instructor Capt. M.S. Mander and four other Instructors including Capt. Sandip Pradhan, Capt. Sandip Hati, Capt. Sukhnaib Singh and Capt. Ashok Kumar Sanday,” he said. “Though I am far away from home, the hospitality of the people of Orissa have impressed me,” he said. Kabilian along with five other trainee pilots are presently staying at the Inspection Bungalow at Gopalpur.

Source: The Telegraph