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Monday, January 30, 2012

Gopalpur-Rayagada railway line project getting delayed for want of funds: ECoR GM






















       Source: The Sambad

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Odisha History Congress held at Berhampur University

Endangered crocodile population increases in Ghodahada near Berhampur

Population of mugger, an endangered species of crocodiles in Ghodahada irrigation reservoir, near Digapahandi located about 50 km from Berhampur city in Ganjam district, increased by 7 in the last two years. The population of mugger which had counted in the 5-sq km water bodies at 41 in 2010, their number went up to 48 at present. The two-day enumeration of the crocodile ended yesterday, where at least 25 forest officials were engaged in the exercise held after two years.
While the enumerators sighted 41 adult (above 4-ft-long) muggers inside the reservoir area, other seven were sighted outside the reservoir, said divisional forest officer, Berhampur A K Jena. With a major chunk of the mugger living in the reservoir, Ghodahada can be considered as another potential habitat for the mugger, the wildlife experts said. Similipal, Satakosia, Ramtirth and Baisipalli in the states have been identified as the habitats of the muggers.
The wildlife lovers however were excited when they found a number of muggers housed in Ghodahada, the reservoir is meant for the irrigation purpose. "Improvement of habitat, including the conservation measures and constant monitoring of their behaviours are some of the reasons for the increase of the population of muggers in the reservoirs," DFO said.
The muggers in the reservoir swim safely as the local fishermen did not harm them, even though they use the water body for the fishing purpose. This despite frequent reports of destruction of the fishing nets by the animal. The forest officials in the area are also creating awareness among the local people for co-existence of men and animals.
A pilot project on "Biodiversity conservation through community based natural resources management" is being implemented in the area with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for providing alternative livelihood support to the people of the area and to protect the biodiversity in the area. The Rs 70 lakh project which started in 2008-09 will end in the month of March next.
Source: Zeenews.com, The Sambad

Friday, January 27, 2012

Players from Andhra Pradesh excel in AITA tennis championship in Berhampur

Players from Andhra Pradesh ruled in the All India Tennis Association (AITA) Talent Series 2011 tournament for ‘under 16 years' boys and girls that concluded in the city January 26,2012.
In the girls' singles final Sai Keerhi Behara of Andhra Pradesh beat her compatriot from Andhra Pradesh Likhita Landa in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to win the championship. In the boys' singles it was again N. Bhupal Raju of Andhra Pradesh was the winner of the final match. He beat M.M.K. Ramineni of Andhra Pradesh in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. The Andhra boys also excelled in the boys' doubles section. The pair from Andhra Pradesh comprising N.Bhupal Raju and Sajid Ur Rehman won the tournament. They beat the doubles team from Odisha of Adarsh Sahoo and Abhilash Ch. Sahoo in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
Participants of this tournament gathered up valuable points for their AITA ranking. Winner of the tournament would get 25 points, runners-up 20 points, semi-finalists are to get 15 points, quarter finalists would have 10 points, pre-quarter finalists will get eight points and the participants who all won first round got four points for their AITA ranking. The closing ceremony was held at Union Club tennis courting the city.

Monday, January 23, 2012

SOSA meets Rlys Minister for Brahmapur station expansion

Demanding better railway infrastructure and connectivity for Brahmapur and South Odisha in the upcoming Railway Budget, South Odisha Students’ Association (SOSA) has submitted a memorandum to Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in New Delhi. The students’ body has urged the Railway Minister to consider the long standing demand for a railway coaching terminal complex at Brahmapur, provision of adequate funds for the modernisation of century-old Brahmapur railway station with additional platforms, widening of the existing platforms, new entry points in place of the goods-shed which was shifted in 2005, adequate passenger amenities besides new long distance trains and expansion of inter-city trains. The association also demanded the early establishment of the proposed wagon manufacturing unit at Sitalapalli near the city and sought approval for new railway lines connecting Brahmapur and Sambalpur via Phulbani and Gopalpur to Rayagada as these railway lines are both economically viable and socially desirable. In their memorandum SOSA said that Brahmapur railway station handles the second highest number of passengers per day after the Bhubaneswar railway station in the State. “However, this railway station has been facing repeated negligence from the East Coast Railway zone authorities and not a single demand of the people has been addressed in the last decade,” said SOSA president RP Tripathy.
Source: The Pioneer
Photo: www.berhampurphoto.blogspot.com

Gana Samaj protests at Berhampur

Source: Orissa Sambad

Tributes to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on his 115th birth anniversary today


Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose visited Berhampur in 1935 during the freedom Movement and addressed a gathering at the historic Barracks ground in the city

Friday, January 20, 2012

SOSA demands better railway infrastructure and connectivity for Berhampur and South Odisha

The South Odisha Students' Association (SOSA) submitted a Memorandum to Central Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi demanding better railway infrastructure and connectivity for south Odisha and improvement of amenities at Brahmapur railway station. The Students’ body urged the Railway Minister to consider the long standing demand for a railway coaching terminal complex at Brahmapur, provision of adequate funds for the modernization of century old Brahmapur railway station with additional platforms, widening of the existing platforms, new entry points in place of the goods-shed which was shifted in 2005, adequate passenger amenities besides new long distance trains to New Delhi, Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Jamshedpur, Jaipur and Inter-city trains to Rourkela, Baripada, Sambalpur, Bolangir, Koraput etc.  The Association also demanded the early establishment of the proposed Wagon manufacturing unit at Sitalapalli near Brahmapur and sought approval for new railway lines connecting Brahmapur and Sambalpur via Phulbani and Gopalpur to Rayagada for these railway lines being both economically viable and socially desirable.  In their memorandum the SOSA members alleged that Berhampur station has till date not received proper attention of railway authorities. Members of this students' organisation urged the Railway Minister to visit Berhampur to take stock of situation and to assess the need of development. It may be noted that Berhampur is third largest city of Odisha and its railway station is more than a century old. According to reports this railway station handles second highest number of passengers in the State. 
Full text of the memorandum: 

Mahanagar mahotsav gets under way

Dance ballets of Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam became highlight of ‘Mahanagar Mahotsav' a cultural festival continuing at Ganjam Kala Parishad in the city. This five-day cultural festival to promote talents of the city would conclude on Friday. Students of ‘Sanskruti Bhavanam', an organisation involved in teaching of Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam enthralled the audience during the festival on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The performers were students of Guru Laxman Das, a major exponent of these two south Indian classical dance formats in south Odisha. “It is my great satisfaction that youngsters of this land of Odishi are also capable of high rated performances of Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam, which hints that traditional dance forms have no boundaries,” Mr. Das said. His students had performed a dance ballet ‘Sita Swayamvaram' in Kuchipudi format on Wednesday evening. Thirteen of his students were part of this performance. The character of Ram was played by A.Silpita while Sita's role was played by S.Nilima. The dancers performed the story from Ramayana to the rhythm and tune of chants in honour of Lord Ram sung by Lata Mangeshkar. This Kuchipuda ballet was more ‘abhinaya'-based. The same troupe performed another ballet based on ‘Draupadi Vastraharan' on Thursday evening. This time they used Bharatnatyam for their recital. The performance started with ‘alaripu' and ‘tillana' and during abhinaya the performers enacted the scene of ‘vastraharan' of Mahabharat.  
Sources: The Hindu, The Telegraph, Orissa Sambad, OrissaBarta

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Berhampur Nagarika Manch demands resumption of Industrial Estate railway passenger halt

A citizens' delegation met the General Manager of East Coast Railway in Bhubnaeswar with the demand to reopen the passenger halt in industrial estate area of Berhampur. This delegation was led former Deputy Speaker of State Assembly Ramchandra Panda and included leaders of Silpanchal Passenger Halt Sangarm Samity (SPHSS), an organisation fighting for the demand and Berhampur Nagarika Manch (BNM). During discussion they pointed out that this was a demand of people of Berhampur since last three decades. There have been protest demonstrations and rail-roko for the demand in the past. According to general secretary of SPHSS, Abani Kumar Gaya, passenger halt with the name Lanjipalli Passenger Halt was recorded in the railway timetable in 1946. But for some reason this passenger halt which was near present industrial estate was closed down. With the expansion of the city and rise of population in the area a passenger halt in the area has become an extreme need, Mr Panda said. In November 1998 at a meeting of the railway coordination committee recommendation was made for establishment of a passenger halt in industrial estate area. In 2010, East Coast Railway authorities had agreed in principle to establishment of this halt near industrial estate.  The Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern division had also in the past recommended the establishment of this passenger halt. A delegation of railway engineers had also made a spot visit in the past to prepare a feasibility report. But the passenger halt has not materialized yet. During discussion this delegation also demanded better amenities in the DMUs connecting Berhampur with Bhubaneswar. They also wanted the Gunupur-Puri passenger to be made an express train and a new passenger to be started between Palasa and Puri.
Source: The Hindu

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Dolphin census conducted at Chilika lake


Berhampur: Annual dolphin census was conducted in Chilika Lake by Chilika Development Authority (CDA) on January 17, 2012. It may be noted that the Chilika Lake in Odisha, which spreads in three districts, Ganjam, Khurda and Puri and covers 1,100 square km is one of the largest salt-water lakes in the country and Asia.
It is home to numerous species of fishes, birds including the Siberian Duck and Ibis and endangered Irrawaddy Dolphins. These friendly Oceanic Dolphins who get their name from Myanmar's most important river, are found mainly in and around the Bay of Bengal and South East Asia. The local fisherman in Ganjam and Puri consider them lucky and it was believed that they drive fish towards their nets.
The Executive director of CDA, Ajit Patnaik said 18 teams were involved in this census. According to last year's dolphin census there were 156 Irrawaddy dolphins in Chilika Lake.
Source: The Hindu 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Telugus bring Pongal flavour to Silk city Berhampur

The sizeable Telugu population in the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border city of Berhampur commenced their own brand of Sankranti celebrations from January 14 with spectacular rangolis, crackling bonfires and colorful cultural shows.
The first day of the festival was celebrated as 'Bhogi', while the second day was celebrated as Pongal, known as Makar Sankranti in most other parts of the state and the country.
At several places of the city, Odia people joined their Telugu counterparts in the celebrations. "It is the biggest annual festival of the Telugu people and they celebrate it across the country," said S Ram Kumar, president of Andhra Bhashabhivardhani Samajam (ABS).
Telugu dominated villages in and around the silk city Berhampur like Goplapur, Chhatrapur and Chikiti in Ganjam district also celebrated the harvest festival as Pongal.
Girls from the community in Berhampur decorated their houses with colourful rangolis and staged cultural shows in the evening at the Sankranti Sambaraalu (Pongal celebration) event organized by the ABS. "We celebrated this festival in an organized way for the first time here," said P Satyanarayana, convener of the festival. People donned new attire and greeted each other on the occasion. The delicious 'Pongali', prepared with newly harvested rice, dal, jaggery, dry fruits, sugar and milk, capped Pongal on a sweet note.
The next day was celebrated as 'Kanuma', the last day of the festivities, especially marked by washing cattle and cleaning cattle sheds. "Since very few Telugu people have cattle, Kanuma is rather low key here," said A Srinibash Rao, a youth from the community
Source: The Hindu   

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Air Defence firepower on display at Gopalpur

BERHAMPUR: A firepower demonstration was conducted by the Army Air Defence College at Golabandha recently. It was a show of air defence capabilities of the Indian Army for dignitaries. Many from the Army Air Defence fraternity were present. Air Vice Marshal Ramesh Rai, Vayu Medal Chief Instructor (Air), Commodore Lalit Bhatnagar besides 250 student officers of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and 10 officers from friendly foreign countries, witnessed the exercise on the Golabandha shore. The missile systems that were fired included the OSA-AK weapon system on pilotless Target Aircraft (Lakshya), Strela 10M missile Igla-IM shoulder fired missile. The visiting officers were also taken around the military station and shown various state-of-the-art training facilities and infrastructure available at Army Air Defence College. They were accompanied by Lt General Vijay Kumar Saxena, Vishisht Seva Medal, Commandant of Army Air Defence College. The complex is spread over 2,700 acres.
Source: The Telegraph, IBN Live

Berhampur News


Source: Pragativadi

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Union Govt approves creation of National Land Records Centre at Berhampur

The government of India has approved creation of three National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP) centres at Salboni in West Bengal, union territory of Puducherry and at Berhampur, Odisha.
The government has sanctioned 196 lakh rupees for each of the centres during the financial year 2011-12. The centres shall be made operational within a period of one year from the date of sanction.
NLRMP has been conceptualized as a major system and reform initiative which is not just concerned with computerization, updating and maintenance of land records and validation of titles, but also as a programme that will add value and provide a comprehensive database for planning developmental, regulatory and disaster management activities by providing location-specific information, while providing citizen services based on land records data.
The activities to be supported under the programme includes- survey/resurvey using modern technology including aerial photogrammetry, updating of land records including mutation records, completion of computerization of the records of rights (RoRs), computerization of registration, automatic generation of mutation notices, digitization of maps , integration of the entire system digitization of maps and training and capacity building of the concerned officials and functionaries.
In 2008, the cabinet had approved the proposal of the Department of Land Resources , Ministry of Rural Development to merge the two existing centrally-sponsored schemes of Computerization of Land Records (CLR) and Strengthening of Revenue Administration & Updating of Land Records (SRA&ULR) and to replace them with a modified centrally-sponsored scheme in the shape of the National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP), with the goal of ushering in the system of conclusive titles with title guarantee in the country.
Source: Press Information Bureau (PIB)

Paradip Port plans to develop cargo-handling facility at Bahuda near Berhampur city

KOLKATA: The Paradip Port Trust (PPT) is planning to develop an additional cargo-handling facility at a location far away from Paradip. “We would like to have a satellite port at Bahuda near Berhampur city in Ganjam district of Odisha,” Mr G. J. Rao, Chairman, PPT, told Business Line. “We've approached the State government for land and waterfront” About 2,500 acres belonging to the State government is already available in the area and PPT has asked for that land. The Government response is awaited.
DETAILED REPORT SOON
Source: Dharitri
When ready for operation, the proposed satellite port, with a capacity of 20 million tonnes (mt), would handle mainly bulk cargoes, Mr Rao said, adding “we will start work on preparation of a detailed project report as soon as the State government gives the clearance”. The cost of the project would be clear once the detailed report is ready.
“By current estimates, the initial investment for constructing two to three berths should be around Rs 2,500 crore, but then it is too early to comment firmly in this regard,” he added.
GOLDEN JUBILEE
Meanwhile, PPT is getting ready for the golden jubilee celebration to be held at Paradip.
The foundation stone for the port was laid by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on January 3, 1962. The first berth, an iron ore berth, was commissioned in 1966. Currently, the port has 14 berths and a single point mooring with the total capacity of 70 mt and the traffic throughput is around 55/56 mt annually.
MAJOR PLANS
The port authorities, according to the Chairman, have ambitious expansion plans to augment the capacity to 250 mt with 28 berths by 2020. The estimated investment could be around Rs 10,000 crore or so.
The Union Shipping Minister, Mr G. K. Vasan, the Minister of State for Programme Implementation and Statistics, Mr Sri Kant Jena, the Odisha Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik, the Shipping Secretary, Mr K. Mohandas, the chairmen of all major ports (except Kochi port) and half a dozen former Chairmen of Paradip port, among others, will attend the celebration.
Source: The Business Line 

Monday, January 9, 2012

National seminar on ‘Ecotoxicology and Human Health' held in Berhampur University

Toxins have become a major threat to human health, say experts
Toxins also affect reproductive, nervous and cardiovascular systems of humans
Toxins also affect seed germination and growth in plants
200 delegates from different universities participated in this seminar

Rising toxicity in environment has started to become a major threat to human health, opined experts at a national seminar on ‘Ecotoxicology and human health' being held in the Berhampur University, Odisha. This two-day seminar being organised by the Department of Zoology of the university in collaboration with its Botany Department was inaugurated on Sunday. Inaugural session of the seminar was presided by Vice-Chancellor of Berhampur University, Jayant Kumar Mohapatra. The VC of Bikrama Singhapuri University, Nellore G.Rami Reddy was the chief guest.
The Indian Society of Biotechnology & Pharmacy conferred a Fellowship to Prof. N.K. Tripathy for his contributions to Science during this seminar. Around 200 delegates from different universities of the country are participating in this seminar.
Ecotoxicology is a multidisciplinary discipline that studies effect of toxic chemicals in the environment on flora and fauna including human populace. It can be said to be integration of ecology and toxicology.
During the seminar there was discussion on different types of toxic materials whose stresses are on the rise in the environment. These toxic materials include polycholorinated biphenyls found mostly in coolants, pesticides, volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde, asbestos, heavy metals including arsenic, mercury, lead, aluminum, cadmium as well as commonly found chlorine.
Experts said these toxins have become part of food chain and through it they are affecting the human populace.
People who are in continuous contact with these environmental toxins are also at risk of genetic abnormalities. These toxins also affect reproductive, nervous and cardiovascular systems of humans. These toxins also affect seed germination and growth in plants. As plants are the primary producers in any food chain in this world these changes have their long term effect on the human race.
They advocated for regular ecotoxicity tests in all areas and strict measures to check the rise of this menace which would prove lethal for the human life in long run.
Source: The Hindu 

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) to develop Gopalpur port with 60% stake in SPV

The Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) has replaced the New Delhi-based Sara International Limited (SIL) after its withdrawal from the consortium constituted to set up an all-weather private port at Gopalpur near Berhampur city in Odisha’s Ganjam district. SIL held 50 percent stake in Gopalpur Port Ltd (GPL), the special purpose vehicle (SPV) developing the port project, with rest 50 per cent vested with Orissa Stevedores Ltd (OSL).In the restructured SPV, Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) will hold 60 percent stake with OSL’s holding coming down to 40 per cent. JSPL, which is setting up a six million tonne steel plant near Angul, had earlier proposed to set up a captive port at Bahuda Muhan, also in Ganjam district, on its own at a capital cost of Rs 1424.4 crore. The operational cost of running the port would be to the tune of Rs 152 crore per annum. With this development, two of the original promoters of Gopalpur port have quit the consortium in last one and half years. Earlier, Hong Kong-based Noble group had withdrawn from the SPV in May, 2010. The Orissa government had awarded the job of developing the existing minor port at Gopalpur into an all-weather non-major port to GPL, a consortium of three companies- OSL, SIL and Noble group on BOOST basis in 2008.
“We have already apprised the Orissa government about the new Development (exit of SIL)", said Manmohan Moharana one of the directors of GPL. “With the entry of JSPL, we expected the work on the port project would be expedited", he added. JSPL which has several steel and power projects in Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and other states has captive cargo of around 20 million tonnes per annum. “The captive cargo of JSPL will be the guaranteed cargo for the Gopalpur port to handle, when it is developed as an all-weather port", he added. The operation of the existing minor port at Gopalpur has been stalled for last two years to facilitate construction work.
However, construction work could take off only last month due to delay in obtaining environment clearance from the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF). The company authorities expect to start handling cargo in the next year, Moharana said. GPL, the second biggest non-major port investor in the state after Dhamara Ports Company Ltd (DPCL), has invested Rs 421.09 crore during 2007-08 to September-end of 2011-12. GPL has invested Rs 51.09 crore in 2007-08, Rs 30 crore in 2008-09, Rs 50 crore in 2009-10, Rs 40 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 250 crore in this fiscal (till September-end).
Source: Business Standard

Berhampur University holds 46th foundation day

The Berhampur University held its 46th foundation day on 2nd January 2012 in its Bhanja Bihar campus near Berhampur city. The university’s focus for the next academic year would be provision of required infrastructure such as classrooms and hostel facilities along with inclusion of new subjects into the curriculum, said the speakers on the occasion. Social worker Padmashree Tulasi Munda and distinguished orator professor Rajat Kumar Kar were honoured for their contribution to education and development. Berhampur MLA RCC Patnaik and Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi felicitated Munda and Kar. A new website buodisha.bu.co.in was launched by the Vice-Chancellor of the university professor Jayanta Kumar Mahapatra. Presiding over the function Mahapatra said, “Although the university has been facilitating teaching, research and extension for years, new subjects that can generate a source of income will be included in the study curriculum from the current year.” Students and scholars from the university and various affiliating colleges were presented with medals and certificates for their performances in various examinations. Besides this, a laboratory journal ‘Bhanja Bihar Reporter’ of the Postgraduation department of Journalism and Mass Communication was released on the occasion.
Source: The Pioneer

'Winterfest-2012' kicks off at Berhampur University

The Berhampur University campus was abuzz with activities on the occasion of the 3-day winter festival ‘Winterfest 2012’ that began last week. Participants from colleges of different parts of the State have reached the Berhampur University campus to participate in the cultural fest. More than 500 students from six universities and 200 colleges participated in various activities held at the university campus.  A colourful musical rally by the participants and students on Thursday marked the beginning of the ‘Winterfest' on the Berhampur University campus. The festival brought to the fore a large number of young talents in events such as quiz competition, debate, dance and music. A colourful cultural rally by the participants on Thursday marked the beginning of the festival. At Bhanja Mandap, an open air stage, the cultural fest was inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor of the university professor Jayanta Kumar Mahapatra. The festival is being organised by the students’ union of the university with the support of the district administration.


Source: The Pioneer, The Hindu

Central ICU for MKCG Medical College at Berhampur

A central intensive care unit (ICU) will be set up in MKCG Hospital in Berhampur which was announced by the health minister Prasanna Acharya in the recently concluded Assembly Session in December. Responding to MLAs' concern over lack of critical care facilities in state-run hospitals, the minister said the government will also upgrade the ICU at Capital Hospital in city. Raising the issue of poor critical care facilities, some lawmakers had pointed out that even the medical colleges lacked ICUs. The members also said that ventilators and other life saving equipment were lying defunct in government hospitals. The minister said since ICU in private sector is far costlier compared to the government facilities, people were dependent more on the government facilities. Keeping this in mind, the government is trying to create more ICUs, he added.
MKCG ailing on many fronts
It is the premier medical in south Odisha. People of 10 districts depend on this as their referral hospital. One of the oldest and well-known in the State, the Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital (MKCG) itself is gasping for breath.
Forget about treatment, the institution which produces doctors has not enough teaching staff and looks for periodic deputations. This has defeated the very mission of institution to cater to the needs of patients in rural areas.
MKCG-MCH, it is said, has not yet been able to meet the criteria fixed by the Medical Council of India (MCI) that includes new rooms and faculties.
Sources said, every year during the MCI team visit, some window-dressing is done. The Health Directorate has initiated some construction work and also ensures presence of doctors on deputation during the visit. Once the visit is over, everything is back to square one. Many important machines and equipment have been kept unused for months together. Some machines gather dust just because there are no adequate staff.
Teaching in the college has remained anything but encouraging. MKCG has 33 departments __ 11 super speciality departments with sanctioned 36 professor, 75 Associate Professor, 111 Assistant Professor and 117 tutor posts. According to official records, the vacancy list includes 10 professor, 24 Associate Professor, 50 Assistant Professor and 61 Tutor posts.
Even two of the super speciality departments like Nephrology, CT and Surgery have contractual faculties. The irony is that Prof Sonamali Bag wears many hats. He is the dean and principal, hospital superintendent as well as head of the Nephrology Department.
The Health Directorate turned a blind eye on the vacancies __ a must for treatment and medical education __ but it has created new posts for the hospital.
Earlier, the hospital was managed by the superintendent with an administrative officer, finance officer and nodal officer. Now, while the superintendent charge has been entrusted to the principal, it does not have an administrative officer. Only recently, two persons were appointed as senior hospital administrator and hospital manager.
Sources: Times of India, IBN Live

Friday, January 6, 2012

3 yrs on, Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) still to achieve development targets

BERHAMPUR: Though the Berhamapur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed three years on December 31 last, the civic body is still to achieve its development objectives. Lack of adequate space and fund has been emerging as the prime obstacle for the city’s development. The BMC is spread over an area of 80 sq km and its total population stands at around 5 lakh while the population of Greater Berhampur has touched the 7 lakh mark. The city also has got its mayor, deputy mayor and corporators. However, as the council meetings are held irregularly, no new proposal has been taken up for discussion in recent times. Further, with the Panchayat elections slated to be held in February, it is certain the council meetings are not going to be held at least for next two months. An improved sewage is proposed in the city development plan for implementation. But due to lack of adequate Governmental fund, the project has not been finished, informed Berhampur Development Authority (BDA) officials. Due to lack of space, the sewage and drainage system inside the city cannot be built. There is also a proposal to take it up on the outskirts of the city with the help of an international organisation. Although 26 villages are supposed to be added with the corporation for its extension, yet the fact is not officially declared. Earlier, Ganjam Bikas Mancha had demanded before the local administration and the BDA for the inclusion of the 26 villages in the corporation prior to the Panchayat elections.
Source: The Pioneer

Old bus-stand at Barracks in Berhampur shifted to decongest city

BERHAMPUR: The Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) bus stand in the heart of the city at Barracks was shifted to new bus stand. Earlier the OSRTC buses were using the old bus stand in the city. Administration and police had taken this decision of shifting of OSRTC bus stand to ease the traffic in the city. Initially the OSRTC authorities were not ready to accept the proposal with the plea that it would hamper their market due to unholy competition from private bus operators. But the OSRTC had to bow down to the directive of the administration. Administration has decided to use the old bus stand as city bus stand. This city bus stand would be used by the passenger vehicles plying between Berhampur, Gopalpur and Chatrapur. The Divisional Transport Manager (DTM) of OSRTC Amiya Kumar Mishra said they have accepted to abide by the order of the administration despite the fear that it may affect their passenger service and income. The OSRTC authorities had no other go but to accept the directive of the administration for shifting of bus stand as this order had the backing of a court order. The old bus stand area had been leased to the OSRTC around 50 years ago. The OSRTC was not ready to vacate it after the end of lease period due to which the legal tussle had started.
This decision to shift the bus stand was opposed by some organisations including some staff of the OSRTC. On Saturday Ganjam district Collector, Berhampur SP and Berhampur sub-collector visited the new bus stand to enquire about the state of amenities and to streamline operation of the OSRTC buses from the spot. They also held meeting with the private bus owners association regarding it. Six berths of the old bus stand have been provided for parking of OSRTC buses. A special booking of OSRTC has been opened up at new bus stand. At present 13 OSRTC buses start from Berhampur and 20 other long route buses of the corporation to different destinations in south Odisha travel via the Berhampur. From wee hours of Sunday these buses started reaching the new bus stand. passing through Gate Bazar, Tata Benz square and Kamapalli.
Source: The Hindu, OrissaDiary

Solar fencing to curb human-elephant conflict in Ganjam

BERHAMPUR: The Odisha government has decided to use solar fencing in Ganjam district to curb incidents arising out of a conflict between humans and elephants. In the first phase, a five-km stretch would be fenced near Narayani jungle under Khallikote forest range to prevent entry of jumbos into human habitats by using a permissible amount of electric shock. "The work for solar fencing will start after the elephant herds are driven away from Ganjam block," divisional forest officer, Berhampur, AK Jena, said. At least 22 elephants divided into three to four herds are now camping in Damanagiri forest in the block, he said.The affected areas are the four blocks of Chhatrapur, Khallikote, Beguniapada and Ganjam. The government has already sanctioned Rs five lakh and has assured the rest of the amount for the fence which will cost a total of around Rs 10 lakh, he said. Solar fencing at other entry areas used by the animals would be made after assessment of this project, he added. A meeting was held by the Sub-Collector, Chhatrapur, Jena and members of the coordination committee over the weekend to review the loss caused due to elephants who stray into human habitat. While at least seven persons have died, four pachyderms have been killed in the last three years in the area due to such conflicts.
Source: TimesofIndia

Monday, January 2, 2012