Kendrapada

Special: State to popularise Netaji museum in Kendrapara

January 22, 2020 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

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.

LocalWire

Fish rearing makes women financially self-reliant in Kendrapada

January 17, 2020 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

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.

LocalWire

Visit Bhitarkanika, the mini Amazon of Odisha

January 15, 2020 By Itishree Mishra Leave a Comment

Bhitarkanika (Kendrapada) Jan 15 (LocalWire) : Get ready to visit the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s Kendrapada district, considered as a mini Amazon.

This mangrove wetland forest in the state covers a huge area of 659 km and spread across the delta of the Baitarani and Brahmani rivers.

The presence of numerous crocodiles has earned it the nickname of ‘Mini Amazon Forest’.

With its lush green mangroves, Bhitarkanika is also home to turtles and migratory birds.

The beautiful tranquil environment, the sounds of sweet chirping birds and serene nature – all of these are truly enjoyable.

You will come across the “Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary”, “Bhitarkanika National Park” and “Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary” around this total reserved forest in the area.

The Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary is located in the east of the Bhitarkanika National Park, separated by swampy region.

• What to see in Bhitarkanika National Park

Bhitarkanika National Park is an excellent place to see the saltwater crocodiles, which grow up to a height of 23 feet in length.

One can also enjoy seeing many other reptiles like the monitor lizard, snakes like king cobra, etc.
Similarly, at every primary location across the park, one can find the spotted deer and wild boars.

The Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, located nearby the Bhitarkanika National Park, is the nesting place of olive ridley turtles.

Between December and March, these turtles can be seen laying their eggs on the sea beach, providing awesome views.

Every year, nearly 120,000 birds visit this place in the winter, especially during November and December.

• When to visit

It is open for tourists from August to May. It can be visited between 9 am to 5 pm.

The park is however closed from May to July due to the monsoon and census of the crocodiles.

• Where to stay

One can find a good night staying facility at the park.

Sand pebbles jungle resort is a luxury resort located within the park. Other alternatives options for stay include forest bungalows and camps.

The tariff of the room in the park ranges from Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 per night.

• How to reach

The best time to visit Bhitarkanika is between November and January so that one can enjoy the ultimate beauty of nature.

It is situated in Kendrapara district and is approximately 170 km from Bhubaneswar.

It takes around 4 hours from Bhubaneswar to reach there.

The nearest railway station is Bhadrak, which is nearly 100 km away from the national park.

One can also reach the national park by taking a boat from Chandbali, which takes around 2 hours.

The national park is also connected to other parts of the state by road network.

LocalWire

Five arrested for shooting medicine shop owner

September 22, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Sept 22 (LocalWire): Five miscreants, including two brothers, were arrested on Saturday night for gunning down medicine shop owner in Manikunda village under Marsaghai police station in Kendrapara district on 18 September.

Ananta Prasad Jena and his brother Sayan Kumar Jena and Khirod Kumar Swain from Manikunda village, Pravat Ranjan Swain and a minor, Amulya Mallick of Manitiri village, were produced in the court of Sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Kendrapara today.

The court rejected their bail applications and remanded them into jail custody.

Ananta Prasad Jena had taken Rs three lakh loan from Utkal Keshari Khuntia of Jokia village in the presence of Gagan Sahoo and Rajesh Mudali. When Ananta failed to repay the loan, Sahoo threatened to kill him.

Ananta retaliated and gunned Sahoo down along with the arrested and some other accused who are absconding.

‘We are raiding their hideouts and will arrest them soon,’ said Niti Sekhar, Kendrapara Superintendent of Police.

Police registered a case under Section 302 and 34 of IPC and Section 25 and 27 of Arms Act, added the police officer.

LocalWire

Marine police stations lack minimum staff, proper infrastructure

September 15, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Sept 15 (LocalWire): Three marine police stations at Jamboo, Talachua and Tantiapala in the coastal district of Kendrapara are very important police stations but are plagued by lack of space, staff and other basic infrastructure. Even two marine police stations in Tantiapala and Talachua have no boats to venture into the sea for last four years.

A police officer of the marine police station in Jamboo said, ‘This marine police station lacks basic infrastructure. It functions with sparse staff. It needs an inspector, three sub-inspectors, three assistant sub-inspectors, two havildars and eight constables. But at present it is being managed by an inspector, two ASIs, two havildars and constables.’

The marine police station at Talachua has sanctioned posts of one inspector, three sub-inspector, three assistant sub-inspectors, eight havildars, 24 constables and two boatmen. But the police station is being managed by an inspector, an ASI, three havildars and five constables only.

The marine police station at Tantiapala has sanctioned posts of an inspector, three SIs, three ASIs, eight havildars, 24 constables and two boatmenbut it is runs by one SI, one ASI, two havildars, and seven constables.

‘We don’t have even proper chairs and tables to sit and work. There are not enough benches or tables for policemen. We have to squeeze ourselves in the little space available. The police station lacks almirahs for maintenance of records,’ said an ASI of Jamboo marine police station.

After the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008, where terrorists entered the city from the sea, the government established marine police stations to strengthen the security along the coast to prevent recurrence of such incidents, officials said.

Niti Sekhar, the Kendrapara SP said, ‘The authorities are aware of the shortage of staff in these marine police stations and will soon appoint more security persons.

LocalWire

Geo-synthetic sea wall damaged in Pentha, govt seeks help from IIT Chennai

September 4, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, September 4 (LocalWire): The district authorities have sought help of experts from the IIT Chennai to repair 15 gabbon boxes of the geo-synthetic sea wall near village Pentha in Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district.

According to reports, portion of the geo-synthetic tube, that was used as a protective wall against sea erosion, was gutted in a mysterious fire on Saturday night.

“We have temporarily repaired the sea wall by placing sand bags.

We will be fixing it with the help of the experts from IIT Chennai,” Aul Saline Embankment Division executive engineer Purnachandra Rath said.

“We held deliberations with the district administration and police regarding the safety of the geo-tubes and they have assured us to guard the sea-wall,” the officer added.

The geo–synthetic tube based sea wall in Pentha was built by Pune-based Garaware Rope Limited in 2016.

“During Titili cyclone a year ago, a portion of the geo-tube was washed away and the company had repaired it in consultation with IIT Chennai,” Rath said.

The state government had built the 600-meter geo-synthetic sea wall in 2016 as part of its Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) programme at the cost of Rs 39 crore, with technical support from IIT Chennai.

The 505-metre-long wall consisting of 241 geo-tubes was installed to tackle sea erosion along the coast at Pentha in Brahmansahi gram panchayat in Kendrapara district.

“Earlier, the experts from IIT Chennai advised us to plant casuarinas in front of the geo-tubes to save the tubes from the tidal waves. However, due to lack of space on the beach, we shelved off the casuarinas plantation work and built the armory stone protection barrier,” Rath informed.

“This is the state’s first geo-synthetic tube wall project. The tube is made of a spun-bond polyester fabric sewn together to form a custom diameter tube.

The tube is interconnected along the sea water edge, and a small pump is used to fill the tube with the same sand and organic material that has been eroding into the sea,” the officer explained.

Locals alleged that while a large number of tourists visit Pentha every day, the authorities have not put in place adequate security measures for them and the sea wall.

They allege that miscreants from outside may have set fire to the geo-synthetic tube wall.

LocalWire

Two policemen die as cylinder bursts

September 1, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Sept 1 (LocalWire): Two boat operators in Jamboo marine police station were killed today after a LPG cooking gas cylinder burst at Kharinasi village in Kendrapara district.

The deceased identified as Prakash Samantaray from Nayagarh and Sushant Sahu from Ganjam were formerly with the Navy.

While Samantaray died on the spot, Sahu succumbed to burn injuries later.

Both of them were cooking in the district police quarters when the mishap took place after gas leaked from the cylinder, said Kendrapara Superintendent of Police, Niti Sekhar.

LocalWire

Illegal prawn farms demolished in Bhitarkanika

September 1, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, September 1 (LocalWire): Taking stern action against illegal prawn farming, the forest officers have demolished over 300 acres of gherries in Mahakalapada, Rajnagar and Rajkanika blocks in the Bhitarkanika National Park and its nearby areas in the district.

The forest department had also sought deployment of police forces during the demolition drive.

“We have demolished illegal shrimp farms in the forest and revenue land during the last two days. We will demolish all illegal shrimp farms in the district soon.

These shrimp farms inside the park are illegal as it violates the Coastal Regulation Zone and the ruling of the Supreme Court and the High Court,” Kendrapara district collector Samarth Verma.

Three years back, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had declared 192 villages around Bhitarkanika National Park as Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs).

The ESZ is aimed to prevent ecological damage caused due to developmental activities around an environmentally sensitive area and Bhitarkanika is known as India’s second-largest mangrove forest after Sundarban in West Bengal.

“ESZ prohibits any shrimp farming within two kilometers radius of Bhitarkanika and the authorities should demolish all illegal prawn farms in the zone,” noted environmentalist and Gahiramatha Marine Turtle and Mangrove Conservation Society (GMTMCS) secretary Hemant Rout said.

“Prawn farm owners also dump the effluents of the prawn gherries into the nearby rivers and ponds and pollute the groundwater sources in the villages. Illegal prawn farms also pose a direct threat to the nearby rich mangrove forests,” Rout added.

Farmers from the villages along the coast also allege that the mushrooming prawn farms and its effluents were destroying their fertile agricultural lands.

LocalWire

Issues of NRC and illegal Bangladeshis crop up again in Kendrapara

August 31, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, August 31 (LocalWire): The issue of deporting suspected Bangladeshi nationals from the seaside villages in Kendrapara district has cropped up again after the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam was released on Saturday.

The final list of NRC excludes 19.07 lakh suspected Bangladeshis, even as the state government recently chalked out plans to launch a similar exercise in Kendrapara district to detect foreign nationals, as per the court order.

The threat of deportation is haunting over 1,551 suspected Bangladeshis who were served ‘Quit India’ notice in 2005 by the district administration.

“In 2005, the state government had wrongly served the notice upon me though I was born in this village.
My grandfather came to the seaside village Pitapatha from Midnapore district of West Bengal in 1948.

We are not Bangladeshis,” 45-year old Deepak Mandal said.

“Our grandfather came to the seaside village Hariabanka in 1948 from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) after the partition of India as a registered refugee.
But in 2005, the district administration had illegally served ‘Quit India’ notices upon me and my family members, branding us as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

We have challenged the order of the administration by filing a writ petition in the Orissa High Court and the court in 2016 directed the government not to take any coercive action against us,” 50-year old Asit Mirdha stated.

A similar sentiment is reflected by 46-year old Bhabotosh Ray from Hariabanka village. “Our grandfather came to this village in 1971 from Khulna district in Bangladesh. However, we are Indian citizens.

The government served ‘Quit India’ notices in 2005 on 1,551 Hindus including me, illegally branding us as foreigners.

The Narendra Modi-led NDA government had brought a bill a few months back to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant nationality to people belonging to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India.

After passing of the bill, nobody will call us foreigner,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Director, Environment-cum-Special Secretary F&E Department, Dr K Murugesan has written a letter to the Home Department special secretary requesting him to grant permission for preparation of National Register of Indian Citizens in respect of Kendrapada district to identify and to deport the illegal Bangladeshis immigrants as per the order of the High Court.

The Orissa High Court-appointed Amicus Curiae Mohit Agarwal and the committee to recommend measures to conserve the ecology of the Bhitarkanika National Park and Chilika Lake in its report had stated that large numbers of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are engaging in illegal prawn farming, tree cutting and similar works in Bhitarkanika impacting the local ecosystem.

However, Kendrapara district collector Samarth Verma said that his office has not received any order from the government to conduct NRC in the district.

LocalWire

Slow construction delays proposed hospital in Kendrapara

August 30, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, August 30 (LocalWire): Even though three years have passed since the foundation stone of the new district headquarter hospital was laid in Samagudia village on the outskirts of Kendrapara town, the construction is far from complete.

The Rs 110 crore, 500-bed hospital was proposed to reduce the work-load from the existing hospital at Kendrapara town and was supposed to be completed within two years.

‘We asked the authorities to speed up work on the proposed hospital but all fall to deaf ears, said Biswanath Behera, a retired engineer and president of Kendrapara Citizen Forum.

Locals claim Engineering Projects India Limited (EPIL), who are in charge of the construction of the building, has engaged very few labourers resulting in the slow pace of work.

Bharati Patra, a construction worker said around 300 workers were being denied minimum wages, safety equipment such as hard hats, safety boots, gloves and other safety gears were also not provided to them.

‘We want the hospital to be built soon so that it can reduce our burden of travelling to Kendrapara town, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar or other faraway places for treatment,’ said Akbar Ali, the former chairman of Kendrapara municipality.

Many people also expressed doubts about whether the project would be completed as scheduled and appealed to the construction company to speed up work.

The chief district medical officer, Kendrapara, Dr Urmila Mishra said, ‘I inspected the construction work on Thursday.

The company assured me that it would be completed by April 2020.’

The government aims to reduce the pressure on the century-old district hospital at Kendrapara town.

The old hospital is already grappling with workload and staff shortage, affecting healthcare.

‘The 120-year-old district government hospital at Kendrapara caters to a large number of patients.

Due to non-availability of beds and medical facilities, doctors usually refer serious patients to the SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack.

We hope the authorities complete the construction of the hospital soon to provide proper health care to the people of the district,’ said Dr Basudev Das of Kendrapara.

LocalWire