Gopalpur Beach Festival draws lakhs of visitors and tourists on the second day

Source: The Sambad

Gopalpur Beach festival gets under way

Gopalpur beach festival and Pallishree mela attached to it were inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Patnaik declared that Rs. 4 crore was sanctioned for the economic uplift of fishermen of Gopalpur under the Integrated Coastal Management Project. He also said that the government was ready to provide all possible support for development of eco-tourism at Gopalpur and its adjoining areas. He lauded the rich cultural heritage of Ganjam district which produced great poets like Kavi Samrat Upendra Bhanj and Kavisurya Baladev Rath. He also spoke on the threat of sea erosion at Gopalpur beach resort. A detailed scientific study of the nature sea erosion in the area was being prepared and the report would be ready by April next. Steps to check sea erosion would be taken as per the recommendations of the report. The Chief Minister said the loss of livelihood of fishermen living near Rushikulya rookery during the mating, nesting, and hatching period of Olive ridley turtles would be compensated through alternative livelihood measures. The inauguration ceremony of the beach festival was chaired by organising committee chairman and Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahy. State Minister Surya Narayan Patra Bikram Arukh, Aska MP Nityananda Pradhan, and MLAs of Berhampur, Chatrapur, Sorada, and Polasara were also present.

The beach festival would continue for five days.

Highlight of the inaugural evening was Odissi dance recital by Dona Ganguly, a disciple of great Odissi guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She also happens to be the wife of former captain of Indian cricket team Sourav Ganguly. ‘Pallishree Mela’, attached to the beach festival, will showcase handicrafts from different parts of Odisha, especially Ganjam district. This mela is being organised by the Orissa Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS). 

Source: The Hindu

Source: The Sambad

Solid waste disposal plant of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation facing roadblocks

The fate of Rs 80 crore proposed solid waste disposal plant of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation hangs in balance. Initially, the civic body had decided to set up the waste disposal plant at Chandini Hills in the city. However, it was forced to shift the venue to Mahuda on the city outskirts because of space crunch. Now again, the project faces uncertainty because of stiff resistance from the local residents. The International Finance Corporation is funding the proposed plant, which would come under the Urban Infrastructure Development for Small and Medium Towns. “We have already built the boundary wall and the gate. Electrification was under progress and the plant may come up with in few years,” said municipal commissioner Akshya Kumar Mahanty. The civic body has spent Rs 60 lakh at Chandini Hills for the construction of infrastructure. “Now, we have been allotted 37 acres at Mahuda. We were earlier provided only 10 acres at Chandini Hills,” said Mahanty.

The residents of the Sukunda Math locality had also objected to the practice of dumping garbage in open areas at Chandini Hills earlier. Now, the residents of Mahuda have also opposed the plant. “If the solid waste disposal plant would come up at Mahuda, the life of more than 30,000 people and 10,000 domestic animals would be in jeopardy,” said Mahuda sarpanch Sadhana Mohanty. In a memorandum to the revenue divisional commissioner (southern division), the local representatives urged the administration not to go ahead with the plant. “If the corporation would go ahead with the project, we would take to the street,” he said.

The city generates about 150 metric tonnes of garbage everyday. The city houses 25 apartments and 12 big hotels that generate about 100 metric tonnes of garbage per month in an average. As many as 35 carriers, including 15 tractors, one dredger and four loaders, have been pressed into service to lift the garbage from 41 points. However, heaps of garbage are often found piled up at various corners across the city. Source: The Telegraph

Gopalpur Beach Festival set to start with a glittering ceremony today

Source: The Sambad

MP Renubala Pradhan questions railway neglect to Odisha and Berhampur in Rajya Sabha

Source: The Sambad

Weightlifting champion Arun Santa given hero’s welcome at Berhampur

Arun Santa, the young weightlifter who broke two national records and won three gold medals in recent Youth National Weightlifting Championship held in New Delhi, was given a hero’s welcome when he reached the city. Santa happens to be part of the sports hostel at Berhampur stadium. Arun Santa’s success has again proved that Berhampur continues to be a major cradle of weightlifting in Odisha. Sports enthusiasts in large numbers, especially weightlifters, reached Berhampur railway station to welcome the champion weightlifter.

Arun participated in the national championship in the 56-kg weight category. He lifted 100 kg in snatch and 120 kg in clean and jerk to win gold medals. He also won overall gold in his weight category with the total lift of 220 kg. His total lift and his snatch lift were new national records. Dharma Rao, the coach of Arun, said the young lad had showed sparks which indicate that he had the capacity to become an international- level weightlifter in near future. According to Mr. Rao, now Arun would target the Youth Olympics to be held in 2014. Arun’s intrinsic talent to become a sportsperson was identified during a talent search programme among school students way back in 2008.

Arun, who was studying in a school at village Talari near Umekote in Nabarangpur district of South Odisha had drawn attention of panel selectors of a talent search programme of the State government.

Weightlifting coach and in charge of Berhampur stadium S. Majhi, who was in this panel of selectors, said at that time Arun was not attached to any sport in particular but he had the stamina and talent to excel in any sport. After selection it was found that Arun would excel if he took up weightlifting as his sport. “Now success of Arun has proved that we were not wrong in spotting this raw talent,” said Mr. Majhi.

Source: The Hindu, Odisha TV

Green activists oppose artificial dinosaur park near Chilika in Ganjam

Environmental activists and ornithologists of the State have protested against construction of an artificial dinosaur park within the fragile ecosystem of Chilika lagoon by the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC). The park is being developed on the Chadheihaga island with an aim to attract tourists to the Chilika lake. The OTDC has already put up fibre models of dinosaurs at the island by using concrete and steel reinforcements in the midst of natural rocks of the island. The OTDC has also floated tenders for other works of the proposed dinosaur park at the island.

Recently members of ‘Birds of Odisha (BO)’, Indian Birds (IB) and Open Wildlife Lounge (OWL) made a joint visit to the Chadheihaga island to take stock of the situation. The team was led by ornithologist Gahar Abedin. After the visit, they felt the recent artificial construction work at the island would alter the natural landscape and ecology of the area. They remarked that the government should accord priority to maintain ecological balance in such sensitive area rather than opting for ‘senseless development’ in the name of promoting tourism. The organisations have started a signature campaign to unite nature lovers of the State and outside against the construction work of the OTDC at Chadheihaga island.

The team of nature lovers pointed out that the Chadheihaga island came under Coastal Regulation Zone 1, where no alteration or construction that may disturb or completely destroy the complex ecology of the place was not allowed. Disturbing or altering these rocks of the island by breaking or rearranging would surely disturb the balance of the weight of the island completely or partially, they said. They cautioned that in course of time it may lead to destruction of the island as it would lose its propensity to withstand natural disasters.

Construction activity would also lead to air and noise pollution as well as pollution caused by construction material. After visiting the island they observed that it was an important site for nesting of resident as well as migratory birds. The dinosaur models would serve more like scarecrows and surely scare away both resident and migratory birds, the ornithologists said.

Source: The Hindu

Gopalpur-on-sea getting decked up for beach festival

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the Gopalpur beach festival on December 24. The main attraction of the inaugural evening of the five-day festival will be Odissi dance recital by Dona Ganguly, a disciple of great Odissi guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She also happens to be the wife of former captain of Indian cricket team Sourav Ganguly.

According to chairperson of the organising committee of the beach festival, Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahy, noted bollywood playback singer Babul Supriyo will also perform with his troupe on the inaugural evening. Babul has several famous Odia songs to his credit. The beach festival is being held to promote the serene beach resort as a major tourist destination of Odisha. So, its timing has coincided with the winter vacation tourist season. This time the beach festival is being organised jointly by the Ganjam district Department of Culture, Department of Tourism, Gopalpur Notified Area Council (NAC), and Ganjam District Hoteliers’ Association (GDHA).

According to the organisers, around one lakh tourists are expected to attend the beach festival every evening. Arrangements to maintain law and order and smooth passage of traffic are being made keeping this in view. Cultural troupes from different parts of the country will also perform during the beach festival. But there will be ample scope for the local folk dance troupes to showcase their skills. To cater to the tourists, who would visit the beach festival, there will be a ‘Pallishree Mela’ showcasing handicrafts from different parts of the State, especially Ganjam district. The mela will be organised by the Orissa Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS).

There will be 120 stalls in the Pallishree Mela. Several Women Self-Help Groups will display their handcraft in the stalls. Around 19 government departments will also open stalls to create awareness regarding various developmental projects of the government.

Source: The Hindu

Source: The Sambad

Steps afoot to make Berhampur city slum free by 2017

Berhampur MunicipalCorporation (BMC) has mooted plans to use Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) to make the city slum free by end of 2017. There are 256 recognised and unrecognised slum pockets in Berhampur, the biggest commercial town in southern Odisha. Around 1.50 lakh, comprising about one third population of the city are the slum dwellers. While several of them have their own houses without having basic facilities in their areas, several others leave the pockets encroaching on government land.

The target to make Berhampur slum free was discussed at a workshop organised by the City Level Technical Cell (CLTC) of the BMC on Friday. It was attended by all corporators of the city, the Commissioner of the BMC Akhaya Kumar Mohanty, city Mayor Siba Shankar Dash and dignitaries of the city.

Barracks, Berhampur

“In a bid to make this south Odisha city “slum free”, BMC is set to implement the centrally-sponsored Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) through public private partnership (PPP) to provide houses and infrastructure facilities in slum pockets. Around 400 housing units are proposed to be constructed in two selected slum pockets at Chandi Sahi and Jhilimili Nagar on a pilot basis”, says BMC commissioner A K Mohanty. “The detail project report (DPR) for the pilot project, which is being prepared by a private agency is likely to be completed next month”, he said.

As per a survey there were 256 slums in BMC area. They have around 12,000 households. According to Sangram Panda, the Slum Improvement Officer cum nodal officer of RAY, around 25 per cent of the city population live in slums. Largest slum in the city was located on the banks of Dhobandha tank. The slums with worst living condition were Pichpicha Nagar and Neliabandha Sahi.

Major tasks

Ramlingam Tank Road, Berhampur

The aim of implementation of RAY was discussed in detail for the corporators as they happen to be key catalysts for its implementation. It was stated that a detailed socio-economic survey was conducted at the slums of the city for their rehabilitation. “This survey was conducted by an outside agency to avoid chances of nepotism and partialism,” said Mr. Panda. Project report for implementation of RAY would be prepared in a phased manner as per this survey report.

The Commissioner of the BMC stated that one of the major tasks of implementation of RAY was identification of genuine beneficiaries who live in slums. According to him in most slums middlemen owned the houses which were handed over on rent to the poor.

For houses constructed under RAY, Central government would provide 50 per cent of the cost, the State government would bear 30 per cent of the cost while the rest 20 per cent was to be borne by the beneficiaries. So, through the NGOs the BMC authorities have started to motivate slum dwellers to start making savings so that when they are chosen to get houses under RAY they could provide their share, said Mr. Panda. The corporators were also urged to help in this motivation work.

Source: The Hindu, Business Standard

Source: The Sambad

Upcoming projects in Greater Berhampur

Source: Anupam Bharat

Source: The Sambad

City Bus service in Greater Berhampur: Progress updates

Anti-encroachment drive in Berhampur as road expansion work gathers pace

Source: The Sambad

Olive Ridley turtles arrive for annual nesting at Rushikulya coast in Ganjam

Rare and endangered Olive Ridley turtles have started to arrive for mating near Rushikulya rookery in Ganjam district of south Odisha. Adequate security arrangement has been made for protection of these endangered turtles. According to Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), S.S.Mishra during past few days sporadic mating of Olive Ridleys was being observed in sea near the rookery. At present, on an average, around 30 to 40 mating turtle pairs were being observed in the sea.  Mating of Olive Ridleys picks up in this area in last week of December and January. As precautionary measure fishing by trawlers in the sea near the rookery up to a distance of ten kilometres from sea coast has been banned from Nov 1 till end of May. This has been done to enable safe mating, nesting of Olive Ridleys and secure return of turtle hatchlings after they hatch on the Rushikulya rookery coast. 
Forest department has started using two boats to patrol the area to check illegal entry of fishing trawlers into this region. One of these boats was of forest department while the other trawler used for patrolling purpose had been hired. As per the DFO during patrolling some trawlers from Andhra Pradesh had been rounded by the forest department patrols in recent past. They were sent back after warning as they were not found to be fishing. “If after this any fishing trawlers were located in the area where fishing has been banned they would be seized,” said the DFO. With the arrival of Olive Ridleys to this coast, some carcasses of these marine turtles have also started to float down to the Ganjam coast line. 
According to forest officials, till now they had located twenty carcasses of the turtles on this coast. Most of them had died of natural causes. Forest officials were too cautious about the fishing trawlers as they were major cause of death of these turtles. Forest department was also arranging for a floating jetty to be established near Purunabandha village to help in patrolling and vigil of the sea during the mating, nesting and hatching time of the turtles. Usually the males return after the mating season. But the females stay near this coast till nesting. They come down to the coast for mass nesting usually from last week of February. But their sporadic nesting starts from end of January. After laying their eggs and burying them in sand, the mother turtles also return. The eggs incubate on their due to the heat of sand and they hatch after 45 days. The newborn hatchlings return back to sea without any assistance from their parents.

Source: The Hindu

Go Gopalpur: Mayfair to open heritage resort at Gopalpur-on-Sea from December 9

Mayfair Hotels & Resorts, which operates the Mayfair chain of luxury hotels in various parts of the country, will open its latest resort at Gopalpur-on-Sea for commercial operations from December 9. The sprawling resort- Mayfair Palm Beach Resort, the eighth property of Odisha-based Mayfair Group, is equipped with all facilities of a luxury hotel, spread over eleven acres of land. The Mayfair Group acquired this heritage property from the Oberoi Group in September 2011 and decided to renovate it, said Mayfair Group chairman and managing director Dilip Ray. The resort, at present, has 32 rooms. In addition to the existing facilities, Mayfair Group plans to add a tennis court and golf course to the resort. Besides Gopalpur, the tourists can also visit some other places in Ganjam district like the habitats of the blackbuck and peacock near Aska and the mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles at Gokharakuda near Rushikulya river mouth, Ray said.

History & Background

Before 1830, an Englishman by the name of John Spence had established the Spence's hotel in Calcutta, making it perhaps the oldest western style hotel outside Europe and in 1841 David Wilson built the 'Wilson Hotel' now known as 'Great Eastern Hotel', also, in Calcutta, which was considered to be one of the best of it's kind, in this part of the world. No one had really by then heard of Gopalpur. And Gopalpur returned the compliment. Barely 16 kms from Berhampur, the commercial hub of Southern Orissa, in the Bay of Bengal, it was extremely uncanny of a young Italian Signor Maglioni, to mysteriously find home all the way from Sicily , and establish the 'Palm Beach' in 1914. It was Odisha's first hotel, of its kind.

Gopalpur on sea how very British suffix on sea like Midleton- on- sea /Frankton-on- sea was a palm fringed beach and Maglioni's dream fused with the sepia and romance of the langorous town ,where the silence was broken only by the breakers and the occasional coconut thudding on the ground.

Originally a small fishing village on the coast of Odisha when it was so named, when a temple dedicated to Lord Krishna 'Krishna Gopal' temple was built in the 18th Century. Legend has it that Gopalpur's sands had witnessed maritime ventures of a much earlier age when Odisha had flourished as part of the Kalinga Kingdom in the 4th and 5th century B.C early colonists to Java, Bali and Sumatra were supposed to have sailed from here, carrying the seeds of Indian civilization with them.

Between the two World Wars ( 1914-1918 and 1939-1945) Gopalpur was overrun by the men in Khakis and became the eastern sectors base for flying out troops and supplies to Rangoon. The commercial port became the living symbol of its grandeur and the pulsating lifestyle was evident in the packed dance floors of the hotel 'Blue Haven'. In 1945. The World War2 came to an end and India inched towards being an independent, sovereign republic. By 1947the British had left the Indian shores and the commercial activity of Gopalpur had dwindled to a trickle. The once vibrant, emblazoned ball rooms gaped at open skies. The noisy wharfs moulted and the warehouses became seedy gateways for derelicts. Gopalpur's importance dwindled when trade with Burma abruptly ceased during the war. When the British left India, even members of rich Bengali homes preferred to holiday in other places and Gopalpur began to revert to what it originally was a fishing village.

In 1938,another enterprising, courageous Indian Hotelier, Rai bahadur M.S Oberoi had already taken over a closed down 'Grand' hotel from the Armenian Stephen Arathoon and reinvented it with trademark Oberoi elan' as the 'Oberoi Grand', to make it the most sought after address in Calcutta. In 1947, on a chance visit to Maglioni's 'Palm Beach' hotel his keen eyes did not miss the state of disrepair that the hotel had fallen to. His instinct smelled a bargain and Maglioni was only too happy to sell it to the Oberoi's for a paltry 3.0 lacs rupees.,thereby enabling the Oberoi legend to root itself as the 'Oberoi Palm Beach'.As it's doors opened the who's who of the country , from Prime ministers, to celebrities and royalty left their impressions behind along with their footprints on the sands of time. History was being created every day, as the hotel played hosts to the history makers.

Maglioni's Mediterranean Architecture had undergone a makeover by the Oberoi's ,but the core of the structure was slowly but surely giving way to the Gopalpur on Seacorroding effects of the saline sea breeze. The erosion had begun and no amount of hasty repairs could make it anymore safe for it's guests. The Oberois closed gates in 2002 and decided to distance themselves and sell this piece of Orissa's history to any worthy taker . It was at this time, 201 1, that 'Mayfair hotels and resorts' stepped in. T o protect, renovate and restore the' Palm beach',where history echoed from every cobble stone. Lured by the fact that Gopalpur-on-sea still stood untouched by the concrete commercialism that had destroyed nearby Puri's equally pristine beach and also because Gopalpur had actually wrapped itself in a romantic mysticism that tugged at history but refused to drown in its excesses.

Rebuilding the core structure from scratch, lovingly touching up the details, reinventing the old magic, preserving the memories, Mayfair has now breathed new life to the 'Oberoi palm Beach' in its all new avatar- 'The Mayfair palm Beach resort' Its the ultimate tribute to your senses and helps in stealing your time and mind in order to find your DNA and recreate you for future generations... where always, every time, anyday 'sometimes the sky looks like the sea and sometimes the sea looks like the sky'.

Source: Business Standard & www.mayfairhotels.com

Odisha Government mooting Police Commissionerate system for Greater Berhampur

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Source: The Sambad

Tata Industrial Park-Gopalpur: Progress updates

H M Nerurkar, managing director, Tata Steel and B Muthuraman, vice chairman of Tata Steel recently called on chief minister Naveen Patnaik to apprise him on the status of  industrial park at Gopalpur where the steel maker is the anchor tenant. Nerurkar hinted that Tata Steel was keen on taking up two new projects at Gopalpur in addition to the two existing projects. However, he refused to spell out the details, saying the projects were yet to be approved by the company's board. The steel maker had lined up two projects at the Gopalpur industrial park- a 50,000 tonne per annum ferroalloys plant and 4,00,000 tonne per annum bar mill. Tata Steel would invest Rs 1,000 crore on these two projects which would initially create employment for 1000 people. While the ferroalloys plant will cost about Rs 200 to 250 crore, the bar mill will be set up at an investment of Rs 750 to Rs 800 crore. This will be the third ferroalloys plant of Tata Steel in Odisha. The company is operating two ferroalloys plants at Bamanipal and Athgarh (through its subsidiary Rawmet) with capacities of 50,000 tonne per annum each. Tata Steel had got the environment clearance for the Gopalpur industrial park. It was awaiting CRZ (coastal regulatory zone) nod for the project. The company has placed all major orders for its projects at Gopalpur industrial park being developed on around 3500 acres of land.

Source: Business Standard

MKCG Golden Jubilee: Second day of promises

Source: The Sambad

MKCG Golden Jubilee: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik announces Rs. 161 core package and to raise intake capacity for MBBS from 150 to 250

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced Rs. 161 core package for  development of MKCG Medical College in Berhampur. He said this while inaugurating the golden jubilee celebrations of the MKCG Medical College. On this occasion he also announced that the State government has started efforts to increase MBBS student intake capacity of Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati (MKCG) medical college in the city by another 100 students and to raise it to 250 from the 2014-15 academic session. At present this only government medical college in south Odisha has intake strength of 150 students for its MBBS course. Naveen said around Rs 161-crore has been sanctioned for construction of new buildings at MKCG Medical College and Hospital. A separate amount has been allotted for the MRI and Life Care Centre at the hospital, he added.

Inauguration ceremony of golden jubilee celebration of this medical college was also attended by Berhampur MP, S. Mohapatra, MLAs R.C.C. Patnaik, Pradeep Panigrahy and Purna Chandra Sethi, RDC (southern division) Aravind Padhi, director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, R.M.Tripthy etc. Attraction of the inaugural function was Sukumar Das, the first principal of this medical college who attended the function at the advanced age of 89 years. Prof. Das narrated the story of establishment of the medical college in 1962 at the function. He urged the Chief Minister to initiate measures to eradicate lacking of this institute and take developmental measures to make it a major institution of medical sciences in the country.

Source: Times of India, The Hindu & Orissa Diary

Source: The Sambad

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik to inaugurate MKCG Medical College golden jubilee

Preparations were in final stages for the five- day golden jubilee celebration of Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati (MKCG) medical college in the city, which is to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday. According to organising secretary of the golden jubilee celebration, S.N.Mohanty, it was an occasion to celebrate for whole of south Odisha as this institute happened to be the only medical college in this region. The hospital attached to the medical college was also the only referral hospital in south Odisha.

The State government had started a medical college in Berhampur in 1961. Due to dearth of its own campus it was being run in the building in front of the City Hospital, which is now being used as office of Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO). Later it was shifted to the building which is now being used as living quarters of Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern division and the building which is now being used by the Ophthalmology Department of the medical college. On November 30, 1963, foundation stone was laid for the new building of the medical college and the hospital attached to it. In 1966 it was named after Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, who had played a pivotal role for the formation of modern Odisha State on linguistic basis. New building of this institution was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister of Odisha Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo on February 21, 1969.  

During the time of inception this institute had intake strength of 40 students. Now 150 students are getting admitted into its MBBS course every year. At present 96 students were studying in post graduate courses of the institute. As the hospital attached to it happens to be the only referral hospital in south Odisha, more than 1,000 patients reach its out-patients section every day. On an average more than 120 patients get admitted in the indoor wards of the hospital every day. The alumni of the institute include several physicians of national and international repute. According to Dr. Mohanty around 5,000 delegates would attend the golden jubilee celebrations. First principal of the institute Sukumar Das would also attend the inaugural ceremony. As part of the celebration several technical seminars would be held in which experts of international fame would take part. Present as well as past students of the institute were also busy preparing for cultural shows they would perform during the five-day long celebration.

Source: The Hindu

Source: The Sambad

Source: Anupam Bharat

Berhampur local mini-bus stand near Barracks faces infrastructure woes

Source: The Sambad