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Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Rushikulya rookery near Berhampur city beckoning Olive Ridley turtles


Nature has made the Rushikulya rookery coast in Ganjam district of Odisha conducive to mass nesting of Olive Ridleys, which is expected to occur by last week of February.
The Rushikulya rookery coast is a major mass nesting site of the endangered marine turtles. No mass nesting occurred here last year, although lakhs of Olive Ridleys had gathered in the sea near the coast. At present mating has started. Hopes are high that in the coming nesting season, the turtles will arrive to lay eggs at the Rushikulya rookery coast.

Some positive changes at the coastline have made the beach more favourable for mass nesting in comparison to past years. These are shifting of the Rushikulya river mouth, erosion and vanishing of a large sandbar and widening of sandy beach through deposition, said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ashis Behera.
During the past few months, the river mouth has shifted around three kilometres towards Purunabandha from near Gokharkuda village. Due to this, a stretch of over three kms, about 300 to 500 metres wide, has emerged. Sand is loose in this region, which is favourable for nesting as the mother turtles dig it up to lay their eggs. Earlier this stretch of beach was eroded by the sea and was too narrow for mass nesting.
Sea erosion and its deposition had formed a large sandbar of over 1.5 km long and 10 to 20 metre wide near Gokharkuda. This was preventing the turtles from reaching the coast and they were nesting on this sand bar. Several nests were washed away by the waves from here. The erosion had started in 2016 beginning. “Now this sand bar has completely vanished and its sand is deposited on the coast, widening it. Now the turtles would be able to reach the beach directly and easily,” said Mr Behera.
To protect the mating turtles, a special squad of officials from the Forest and Marine Fishery Departments has started patrolling the sea near the coast. The squad has two speed boats from the Forest Department, one trawler each from the Fisheries Department and Gopalpur port. Nine on-shore camps have been established by the Forest Ddepartment on the coast where the turtles usually come to nest near the rookery. Beach cleaning process has also started.
Some positive changes here have made the beach more favourable for mass nesting
By Sib Kumar Das 
- The Hindu, BERHAMPUR,DECEMBER 24, 2016

'AMRUT City' survey in January


Monday, December 26, 2016

Images of the Second Day of the Famous Gopalpur Beach Festival 2016


 #GopalpurBeachFestival2016 
#futureBerhampur

Second day of Gopalpur Beach Festival 2016


Famous Gopalpur Beach Festival 2016 begins













AMRUT city survey in January



Pollution actuate in Berhampur City; Government silent!


Central team will monitor the sanitation of Berhampur city


Condition of water bodies in Berhampur city


Friday, December 16, 2016

ADVANCE SKILL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING INSTITUTE (ASTI), BERHAMPUR WILL START FROM COMING FEBRUARY


ADVANCE SKILL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING INSTITUTE (ASTI), BERHAMPUR WILL START FROM COMING FEBRUARY

A NINE-MEMBER EXPERT TEAM OF THE FUNDING AGENCY, ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB), VISITED THE ITI, BERHAMPUR RECENTLY FOR SITE SELECTION

THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK MISSION WAS SATISFIED WITH THE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES AT ITI, BERHAMPUR

The proposed Advance Skill Development Training Institute (ASTI), Berhampur, is likely to function on a temporary basis from the premises of Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Berhampur from February, 2018.

A nine-member expert team of the funding agency, Asian Development Bank (ADB), visited the ITI recently for inspection of its infrastructure.

“We are prepared to spare space for functioning of the ASTI on ITI campus. During the discussion with us, the Asian Development Bank mission appeared satisfied with the existing infrastructure facilities,” ITI principal Rajat Panigrahi said.

The government has earmarked five acres in front of the ITI, Berhampur for construction of the permanent campus of the ASTI. The construction of the building and other facilities for the institute will take two years.

The temporary campus of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Berhampur, started functioning from the ITI campus this year.

To impart skill training to around two lakh youths in the next five years, the state government has decided to set up six ASTIs in different places of the state. Besides Berhampur, the other places selected are Rourkela, Ambaguda (Koraput), Jharsuguda, Bhubaneswar (Gandamunda) and Balangir.

The five ASTIs will also function from ITIs. Most advanced skill development and industry-oriented training will be imparted in the ASTIs.

Two lakh youths will be trained at a cost of Rs 1,050-crore. Out of it, the state government would provide one-third and the rest amount would be availed from ADB as loan, the sources said.

The Odisha Skill Development Society would be the nodal agency for implementation of the project.

Besides ITI passouts, other target groups to receive advanced skill development training are unemployed IT graduates, unemployed engineers and general graduates and polytechnic graduates, they said.

PTI, Decemeber 16, 2016