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Kendrapada

Drug racket busted; six peddlers arrested

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Jajpur, Sept 15 (LocalWire): Jajpur police busted a drug racket by arresting four drug peddlers from Chatia and two from Naudapur village.

While 13.48 grams of brown sugar and 6 kilograms of marijuana was seized along with 3.5 lakh rupees and two mobile phones from Naudapur, drug peddlers Brundaban Sahoo, 45, and Ranjan Mallick, 45, were arrested in the raid.

Drug peddlers Ajaya Swain, 31, Santosh Kumar Swain, 25, Chandan Nayak, 21 and Sudhakar Mallick, 24, were arrested from Chatia along with 7.5 grams of brown sugar, four mobile phones and 4500 rupees.

The arrested persons were booked under sections 21 (B) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Upon being produced in the local court, their bail applications were rejected and they were remanded in jail custody, said the SP of Jajpur.

Chatia, a small temple village near the national highway, has become a haven for drug-traffickers and peddlers for more than a decade.

Police have seized brown sugar worth crores of rupees within the last decade in Chatia and nearby areas, said Mahendra Behera of Chatia.

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Monsoon bird population increases in Bhitarkanika

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Kendrapara, September 5 (LocalWire): The population of monsoon birds has increased in the Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district this year.

The forest officials on Friday released the results of the bird census, which pegged their population at 97,866 (ten species).

This means the population has increased by 9192, compared to the last census in 2019 as last year the forest officials sighted 88, 614 birds during the bird census.

In 2018, forest officials sighted 91,224 birds. However, in 2017, the population of the monsoon birds was estimated at 1,04,490 and in 2016, the forest officials counted 1,03,853 birds in rainy season.

“We monitored all the water bodies and mangrove forest areas of Bhitarkanika from 23 September to 30 September and did proper bird survey and census.

Team members scouted the park and its nearby areas to count the birds keeping proper social distance and wearing masks as per the Covid-19 guidelines,” said Bikash Ranjan Dash, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Bhitarkanika national park.

Large numbers of monsoon birds find a new nesting site at mangrove forest near the river Bramhani at, Mathadia, Laxmiprasaddia of Durgaprasad forest block near the Bhitarkanika Park in this nesting season. We counted 21,185 nests on 1424 trees during the census, added the forest officer.

The monsoon season is the breeding period of many local birds in the park. The most important nesting birds of the Bhitarkanika are the Asian open billed stork, large egret, intermediate egret, little egret, purple heron, grey heron, darter, little cormorant, black-crowned night heron and black-headed Ibis,” added the forest officer.

In the monsoon season, local birds arrive in Bhitarkanika to lay eggs. But in winter, migratory birds arrive to avoid the winter in far-off places beyond the Himalayas, added the forest officer.

The avian species used to get sufficient fish and a serene environment in Bagagahana and other water bodies within the park in the past but many prawn mafias destroyed the ecology of these areas by converting the wetlands and the forest lands into prawn farms.

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Lockdown hits mahua flower collection

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Jajpur, May 12 (LocalWire): Collection of mahua flowers (Madhuca indica) in the summer is one of the main occupations of the tribal communities of Jajpur district; however, this has come to a standstill due to the the ongoing lockdown.

Tribal people and forest dwellers have been collecting the sweet-tasting minor forest produce (MFP) during summer to supplement their modest income.

Though mahuli, in general, is synonymous with an alcoholic beverage popular in the state, the tribals also prepare cakes, jams and other food items from Mahuli flowers after drying it.

Tribal people of Mahagiri, Salijanga, Nahuranipasi, Tamaka, Kamarada, Chingudipala, Kusumadiha, Mangalapur, and other villages of the district are the main collectors of Mahua flower.

“It is the peak season of flower collection, but we are struggling to take the flowers to the market to sell,” said Sarala Munda, a tribal woman of Bhimatangara village in Sukinda.


The economy of tribal flower collectors has been suffering because of the lockdown, as the markets have been shut for more than a month leaving traders in the lurch.

Rising number of COVID-19 positive cases in Jajpur forced the government to declare the district a red zone.

“We have fixed Rs 17 per kilogram as the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Mahuli flower and directed the traders to purchase flowers from the tribals by paying the MSP.

Recently the government allowed farmers to sell their products in the markets during the lockdown period,” said an official of Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation (TDCC) of Odisha.

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Dolphin population declines in Gahiramatha

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Kendrapara, Feb 24 (LocalWire) The population of the dolphin has dropped at Bhitarkanika national park in Kendrapada district, according to the latest annual census report released on Monday.

The forest officials spotted only 62 dolphins during the census conducted this year on 19 January, while last year it was 126.

307 dolphins were spotted in 2018.

Population rises in Chilika and other water bodies .

The population of endangered Irrawaddy dolphin has increased in Chilika Lake and other water bodies, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Wildlife Management) Pradipta Kumar Sahoo said.

The forest officials sighted 146 Irrawaddy dolphins and 17 Bottle Nose dolphins in Chilika, two Irrawaddy dolphins and five bottlenose dolphins in the water bodies of Puri.

In Balasore district, officials counted only one Bottle Nose dolphin.

The first dolphin census was carried out in Gahirmatha in Bhitarkanika in 2015.

No counting was done in 2016 and 2017 due to bad weather.

Dolphins are categorized as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.

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Prime accused in gang rape and murder surrenders

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Jajpur, Feb 20 (LocalWire) Ghan Hemrum (24) the prime accused in the alleged gang rape and murder of a tribal girl in the Jajpur district surrendered before the court at Jajpur on Thursday.

Earlier, police had arrested Rabi Siddhu (24) and a 16 year old juvenile in this case. On 17th January, another accused Ramesh Balmucha (23) of Belahudi was also arrested.

All the four accused abducted a 19 year old tribal girl on her way back home on 15th January 2020 night.

“Later, they sexually assaulted and murdered her at Hatimunda forest, five kms from her village”, said the IIC of Kalinganagar police station, Rajendra Patnaik.

A police team was formed to investigate the case. After questioning some locals in the case, the four accused were zeroed out.

“Initially, all the accused tried to mislead the police but purportedly confessed their involvement in the crime during sustained interrogation”, added the police officer.

It was revealed during the interrogation that the accused raped the victim and throttled her to death when she threatened to file an FIR against them in the police station.

One day after the girl went missing, some villagers found her body hanging from a tree in the forest to portray it as a case of suicide.

The brother of the victim filed an FIR in Kalinganagar police station and alleged that his sister was gang-raped and killed.

During investigation, police came to know that she was sexually assaulted and murdered by all the four accused persons.

Police filed a case under section 302 (murder) and 376 (d) (gang- rape) against all the arrested person, added the police officer.

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Under-construction Railway Line of Paradip-Haridaspur rail project caved in

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Kendrapara, Feb 13 (LocalWire):Around 150-meter-long under-construction railway line of the Paradip-Haridaspur rail project caved in near the village Dumuka of the Kendrapara district on Wednesday night.

Many locals alleged that the mishap occurred due to the sub-standard work of the railway line.

Though there were no casualties reported in the mishap, the houses of three families near the area suffered damage.

Ramesh Behera of Dumuka alleged, “The railway officials hurriedly built the railway line by not filing the earth properly as a result of which a major portion of the railway line is on the verge of collapse.

Many villagers near the under-construction railway line have been spending sleepless nights.”

When contacted, Prasant Kumar Mishra, the Managing Director of Haridaspur–Paradip Railway Line Project said, “Senior officials of the Railway Department rushed to the spot on Thursday as soon as the spot reached them.

Reconstruction of the damaged patch is currently in full swing. It is a minor mishap.”

The 82 kilometers-long railway line from Haridaspur to Paradip covering Jajpur, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur districts is likely to be completed in March 2020 and the first goods train will start in the Kendrapada district for the first time.

“We have already completed 90% of the work. The installation of signboards, telecommunication systems, and the construction of railway-level crossings has been completed.

We built 31 major and 171 mini-bridges over the water bodies,” added Mishra.

This railway line was sanctioned in 1996-97 primarily to cater to the movement of freight, the export of finished products of steel plants and the import of coal from Paradip to the industries in Kendrapara.

Edited by Meenal Singh

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Married woman set afire by husband for dowry

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Kendrapara, Feb 3 (LocalWire): A 23-year-old married woman was allegedly set afire by her husband and in-laws in Kendrapada district for not bringing more dowry, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred at Dhaneswarpur under Rajnagar police station on Sunday night but came to light after the father of the victim lodged a complaint with police today.

The condition of the victim is stated to be critical with 80 per cent burns.

Bramahanda Sahoo, the father of the victim alleged that two years back, he gave dowry amounting to Rs. one Lakh at his daughter Rasmita’s marriage, but her in-laws were torturing her physically and mentally seeking more.

Rasmita’s husband is a habitual drinker and used to mostly quarrel with her.

He stated that husband and in-laws doused his daughter with kerosene and set her on fire.

Police have registered a case against her husband in-laws and launched a manhunt to nab them.

Hundreds of local residents blocked the main road at Rajnagar and demanded immediate arrest of all the accused.

Edited by Meenal Singh

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19 marine fishermen arrested at Gahiramatha

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Kendrapara: The forest officials have arrested 19 marine fishermen and seized their two fishing trawlers on Monday night on the sea water of the Gahiramatha marine sanctuary of Kendrapara district on the charges of illegally fishing .

We also seized eight quintals of fish from the fishing vessels, said Debashis Bhoi the forest range officer of Gahiramatha marine sanctuary.

All the arrested were booked under the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

They were produced in the court at Rajnagar on Tuesday.

The court rejected their bail applications and remanded them in judicial custody, added the forest officer.

Marine fishermen have been directed not to fish within 20 kilometers from coastline in the marine sanctuary areas covering 1360 square kilometers in the sea from Hukitola to Dhamara.

Forest officials have already deployed forest guards to arrest the fishermen who will be dared to enter the marine sanctuary areas.

In 1997, the government declared the Gahiramatha marine sanctuary to protect the marine turtles as each winter lakhs of turtles come to Gahiramatha coast for laying eggs.

Gahiramatha beach is the largest rookery of the sea turtles in the world for which the government banned all types of fishing for seven months from 1st November to 31st May to save the endangered marine species”, added the forest officer.

We established 16 turtle protection camps including three offshore camps at Agaranashi, Barunei and Babubali islands to protect turtles in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary.

The policemen of marine police stations at Kharinashi and Paradip and coast guards are helping the forest officials to prevent the illegal fishing this year, added the forest officer.

Due to the fishing ban imposed by the authorities , around 4.70 Lakh turtles laid eggs from 26th February to 5th March 2019 at the Nasi-1 and Nasi-2 islands within the Gahiramatha marine sanctuary , added the forest officer.

The forest officials seized 102 fishing boats and trawlers and arrested at least 832 fishermen on the charges of illegally fishing within Gahiramatha marine sanctuary during the fishing ban period from 1st November to 31st May 2018-2019, added the forest officer.

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Special: State to popularise Netaji museum in Kendrapara

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Kendrapara, Jan 22 (LocalWire) The state government will popularise the Netaji museum located in the district headquarters town of Kendrapara to attract more tourists, a senior district official said on Wednesday.

The museum owned by Mohammad Mustaque, a 56-year-old lawyer, houses many rare photos, documents, coins and other materials on the life and works of the great freedom fighter.

District tourism officer Niroj Kumar Sahoo said the museum will be brought under the tourism map.

He said the tourism department is also planning to conduct trips for interested visitors to the museum.

Mustaque, the owner of the museum said he is a great fan of Netaji. He was motivated by his ideology so much that he had spent a lot of money from his pockets to collect rare photos, documents, newspaper clippings and other things and preserved them.

The historians have ignored Netaji’s association with a family in village Korei of Jajpur district where he carried out social works during his students days. Netaji had also treated cholera patients in the area, Mustaque said.

The three-room museum has the gazette notification of Bihar and Orissa of 1913 where it was mentioned that Bose passed entrance examination in 1913.

It has handwritten letter of Captain Dr Laxmi Sahgal of Indian National Army, the original copies of the magazine ‘Forward” published by Bose in 1925 to 1927, the special issue of INA “Basumati” a Bengali magazine and the only postal stamp issued by Indian National Army(INA) under the leadership of Netaji in 1942 after liberating Manipur.

Around 150 rare photographs, hundreds of old newspaper clipping and many postal stamps on Netaji are also displayed in his museum.
Among other items on display is an old photograph of Subash Chandra Bose with the family members of Ashok Banerjee a lawyer of Cuttack, two rare coins.

Ashok Banerjee sits on the lap of Subash Bose when he was only four years old in 1935, Mustaque said.

I am happy that the tourism department has decided to include the museum in the tourist map of the district ”, Mustaque said.

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Fish rearing makes women financially self-reliant in Kendrapada

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Kendrapara, Jan 17 (LocalWire) Women in several villages in Kendrapada are rearing fish in their village ponds and making themselves financially self-reliant, thanks to the support provided by local authorities.

The women have formed Self-Help Groups and are rearing fish after getting financial and technical help from the fisheries department, under Rashtriya Krushi Vikas Yojana, a central assistance scheme for the development of agriculture and allied sector.

30-year-old Jayanti Rout, a resident of Basantapur under Rajnagar block said fish rearing has provided her family in sustaining a livelihood.

She is a member of the Ma Budhi Mangala women self-help group. Pisciculture has helped her earn around Rs. 3000 to Rs. 5000 per month, she told LocalWire.

38-year-old Anjali Sethi is a member of Baba Jaleswar, another self-help group established in 2018.
Like Jayanti, she has become financially independent and is able to support the family by rearing fish along with other members, she told Localwire.

Similar is the stories of other women who have formed self-help groups and have turned to fish rearing.

Laxmipriya Mallick, 27, the secretary of Sidha Mavaveer group at Entalapur under Garadapur block said the living condition of the village women has improved.

The women not only rear fish they also sell them in the local market.

“We are now able to save Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 a month for the higher education of our two children,” she said.

As many as 4000 members of around 389 self-help groups have benefited from the scheme implemented by the fisheries department.

“ The government provides 60 per cent subsidies by providing Rs 90,000 to each group per hector pond to rear fish” fishery officer Mamata Mohapatra said.

The department not only provides them fish seeds, feeds and medicines but also fish rearing training, she said.

The plight of the marine fisher-folk in the seaside villages of Rajnagar and Mahakalapada blocks affected due to the fishing ban off the Gahirmatha Marine sanctuary has also been eked out by help fisherwomen doing pisciculture in the village ponds.

The fishery has not only provided people with a livelihood but has also made them self-sufficient, bringing in a mini ‘Blue Revolution’ in the rural areas, said Amarbar Biswal a social worker from Kendrapara.

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