Kendrapara

Kendrapara post dept man imitates Sholay scene, rescued

November 22, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Nov 22 (LocalWire): The man from Kendrapara district who climbed up a water tank in Bhubaneswar today giving anxious moments to the police and fire brigade personnel had been sacked from postal service three years back for not delivering letters.

Taking a cue from 70’s Bollywood super hit Hindi movie Sholay, Subodha Kumar Barik of Praharajpur village went up the water tank in Bhubaneswar.

Police and fire brigade personnel rushed to the tower and managed to rescue him.

‘Subodha Kumar Barik was working as a Grameen Dak Sevak or mail carrier at Mahu sub-post office under Aul block since 2001.

He was mentally unstable and was admitted at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack in 2016.

He arranged another villager to work as his substitute who died of heart attack in 2017and letters or parcels could not be delivered for a week.

The authorities sacked him from service as he blatantly violated the service norms.

‘Authorities sacked him for dereliction of duty. He went to Bhubaneswar to meet his lawyer and to approach the Chief Postmaster General, Odisha circle for his reinstatement,’ said Nirmal Chandra Singh, the secretary of All India Postal Employees Union Gramina Dak Sevek Odisha and the post master of Alava branch post office in Kendrapara district.

‘My son requested the authorities to reinstate him in his job.

But the officials did not pay any heed to his pleas and so he tried to end his life. He has a two-year-old daughter and he is the only earning member of our family.

We are facing financial problems after he was dismissed from his job.

We are now praying for his speedy recovery in the hospital in Bhubaneswar,’ said Krushna Chandra Barik, Subodh’s father.

Sarada Prasad Das, the assistant postmaster of Kendrapara head post office said, ‘Subodh was dismissed from service for not delivering letters three years back. He was suffering from mental illness.’

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Man, paramour get life after 8-year-old testifies in court

November 21, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Nov 21 (LocalWire): The testimony of an eight-year-old boy in the court led to the life imprisonment of a man and his paramour at the district and session court in Kendrapara today.

45-year-old Gobardhan Mallick and his paramour Rasmita Mallick were sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 302 (murder) of IPC for killing Gobardhan’s wife Mina Mallick at Gajarajpur village in the district.

The victim was brutally beaten to death in her house on 10 December 2015 after the deceased objected to the relationship between her husband and Rasmita.

After proper investigation, police arrested both the convicts. The district and session judge Basudev Panda found them guilty of murder after examining 15 witnesses including the eight-year-old son of the victim, was the sole eye witness of the crime, said the public prosecutor of the court, Bhimasen Bhuyan.

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Sarpanch and engineer booked for tube-well scam

November 20, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Nov 20 (LocalWire): A case of cheating and corruption was registered today against a sarpanch and a junior engineer of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS).

Both allegedly siphoned off Rs 2.32 lakhs by digging a tube-well in the house of the sarapanch instead of digging it in a public place at Nahang gram panchayat under Derabishi block.

Villagers complained to the district Collector about the nexus between the two as they falsely described in the official document about the tube-well being dug at a cost of Rs 2.32 lakh in a public place.

The executive engineer of RWSS, Kendrapara, Dilip Dehuri was asked to investigate the complaint. Dehuri and other officials submitted the same in the inquiry report.

Acting on the report, the Collector directed the officials to lodge an FIR against Sarpanch Umakant Nayak and junior engineer Saroj Mohapatra.

Both were also charged with tampering with government records to conceal the alleged fraud for which Dilip Dehuri, the executive engineer of RWSS filed an FIR against them on Wednesday in Nikirei police station.

Police filed a case under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged department as genuine) and 120b (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against them. Police are investigating the case, said the IIC of Nikirei police station, Kabuli Barik.

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22 marine fishermen arrested at Gahiramatha

November 19, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Nov 19 (LocalWire): Forest officials arrested 22 marine fishermen and seized three fishing trawlers on Monday night at Gahiramatha marine sanctuary in Kendrapara district on charges of illegal fishing.

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

‘Guards have been deployed to arrest fishermen who disobey government orders where all types of fishing have been banned for seven months from 1 November to 31 May to save endangered marine species,’ said Debashis Bhoi, the forest range officer of Gahiramatha marine sanctuary.

‘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 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 26 February to 5 March 2019 at Nasi 1 and Nasi 2 islands within the sanctuary, added the forest officer.

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Encroachment by razing mangroves threatening Bhitarkanika ecology

November 18, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Nov 18 (LocalWire): Unauthorized buildings have been constructed by razing mangroves illegally in Bhitarkanika National Park blocking water channels.

Encroachments and illegal construction violating the Coastal Regulated Zone (CRZ) Act in the mangrove forest surfaced last month after locals urged the forest officials to demolish the illegal structures.

‘Forest officials should now take steps to save the mangrove forests from encroachers and recover forest land by demolishing the illegal structures,’ said Hemant Rout an environmentalist and secretary of Gahiramatha Marine Turtles and Mangrove Conservation Society, Kendrapada.

He also alleged that large-scale felling of mangrove trees by well-organised gangs of encroachers have threatened the existence of green cover at Talachua and Ramanagar within the park where encroachers are hand-in-glove with unscrupulous forest and revenue staff.

Despite the forest officials strictly warning against felling trees, mangroves continue to be chopped to make way for illegal buildings in Bhitarkanika, said Bhabani Mandal, a retired school teacher of Ramanagar.

The mafia not only destroyed natural resources but also illegally occupied forest land after clearing the forest cover, added Mandal.

‘Officials are gathering details about unlawful occupation in Bhitarkanika. We will soon demolish the illegal buildings and take legal action against them,’ said the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Bhitarkanika National Park, Bikash Ranjan Dash.

Locals and traditional fishermen mustered courage to fight the encroachers to save the coastal ecology.

Mangrove forests provide a formidable natural barrier against cyclones and storm surges and play an important part in stabilising the shoreline.

They also serve as nesting and breeding grounds for various terrestrial, arboreal, benthic and aquatic organisms.

‘The mangroves contribute immensely to the growth of estuarine fishery resources besides yielding timber, firewood, honey and medicines,’ said Sudhanshu Parida an environmentalist and the secretary of the district unit of Peoples for Animal.

Century old motorboat discovered under Bramahani river bed

November 18, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, November 18 (LocalWire): In a chance discovery, workers digging river Bramahani near Chaudakulat village under Pattamundai block to collect sand found the wreckage of an old motor launch boat on Sunday.

Later, the villagers joined in to clear the sand around the wreckage and recovered part of the over 50-foot-long motor launch, a local from Chaudakulat, Jagannath Das said.

“Efforts are being made to resurrect the century-old launch boat safely,” sources said, adding that the locals and workers were able to clear the upper layer of sand using pickaxes, small crowbars, and iron rods.

After the discovery of the remains of an iron-made motor launch boat, the workers stopped the digging work as hundreds of curious villagers gathered to see the wreckage.

Experts like Dr. Sunil Patnaik, secretary, Odisha Institute of Maritime and Southeast Asian Studies, believe that the motor launch may be of the British era.

“We suspect that the motor launch sank during the Raj period in any cyclone or storm,” He said, adding that, “We will soon examine the site of the ancient boat, found under the sand in the river and chalk out a technical strategy for the salvation of the launch.”

Experts also point out that river Bramahani was famous for navigation during the Raj period and ports in Balasore, Chandabali, Chhauna, Churamani, Dhamara, and False Point had trade contacts with the Britishers.

Dhamara, about 30 kilometers from Chaudakulat was declared a port in 1858 and is situated on the banks of estuaries of the Baitarani and Bramahani rivers, while Chandabali port on the bank of river Baitrani in Bhadrak district was established in 1872.

Throughout the 19th century, salt was exported from Chandabali and almost 60 percent of the total trade and commerce between Odisha and Calcutta was carried out from the port.

Besides, the port at False Point in Kendrapara district had trade contacts with many countries and regular shipping between these ports and False Point contributed significantly to the maritime trade of Odisha.

Experts also point out that in the latter part of the 19th century many ports in Odisha including False Point became defunct due to siltation and the deposition of sand in the harbour areas.

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Cops don the role of scavengers in Kendrapara

November 17, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Nov 17 (LocalWire) The cops in Kendrapara joined hands for a community cause and cleaned an abandoned pond at Jajang on the outskirts here in a five hour of voluntary labour.

Led by superintendent of police (SP), Kendrapara, Niti Shekhar, the law enforcing personnel marched through the village carrying the cleaning implements on their shoulder and removed the weeds, waste materials and shrubs from the pond to make it use-worthy.

Then they proceeded to clean the nearby
playground, barrack, roads, streets and other areas.

“We decided to launch this cleaning drive to help the police personnel and the public who use the pond that had virtually turned into a dumping ground due to lack of care”, said the SP, who actively participated in the operation.

They cleaned the pond within five hours without any expenditure.

Normally, if the work was given to a government listed contractor, it would have cost the exchequer about Rs. 1.5 lakh, an engineer of Irrigation department, Kendrapara said.

“We never felt tired and worked continuously to clean the pond and nearby areas in which about 100 cops participated”, said Sekhar.

“The work of policemen was an eye opener for the district administration and the politicians.

It is high time other officials followed the footsteps of the police who cleaned the pond without seeking any help from the authorities”, said Amarbara Biswal, a social worker of Kendrapara.

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The journey of a woman from obscure village to NASA (Special)

November 16, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Nov 16 (LocalWire) Fulfilling her childhood dream, Omm Narayani, a 26-year-old Odia woman from Kendrapara district, has joined as a scientist at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the USA.

A native of Hatasahi village under Rajkanika block, Narayani, who studied astrophysics, has been staying with her parents Biranchi Narayan and Geetanjali Nayak in the USA.

“Narayani wanted to be a scientist from her childhood and to fulfill her dream, she worked very hard,” said her grandfather, Alekha Nayak, who stays in Bhubaneswar.

“My grand-daughter has fulfilled all her dreams by joining NASA. Her marriage will be solemnized on 1 December in Bhubaneswar with as a scientist, who is also in the USA.

She and her parents will come to Odisha soon for the purpose”, he said.

Om Narayani is following the footstep of her father Biranchi Narayan, who started his journey from the village primary school and stood first in the HSC examination in 1978. He is now a scientist in the USA.

“We are delighted to know that Om Narayani has joined NASA.

Each year, she and her parents spend a month in the village”, said Sarbeswar Nayak, a villager of Hatasahi.

Meanwhile, after knowing about the achievement of Om Naranani, the union minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan twitted ” If there is will, even sky is not the limit.

Proud of Om Narayani Odisha’s daughter from Kendrapara on being appointed as a scientist in @NASA.

“Narayani’s achievement is an inspiration for our young and will make them believe that no goal is too distant, no aim too high”, he tweeted.

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Over a hundred people donate blood in Kendrapara

November 16, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, November 16 (LocalWire): Joining the noble cause, over 110 persons donated blood at a camp organised by the Pattamundai branch of the State Bank of India here, on Saturday.

Inaugurating the blood donation camp, SBI manager Prakas Grahacharya said that the SBI Pattamundai branch has taken a pledge to make the camp an annual affair.

“The camp saw a lot of people joining in to donate blood, which is an encouraging indicator of voluntarism and awareness,” an SBI official Shibabrata Satapathy said.

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Police to penalize women for ransacking liquor shop

November 13, 2019 By Ashis Senapati Leave a Comment

Kendrapara, Nov 13 (LocalWire): Several agitated women today ransacked a licensed country liquor shop at Nageswarapur village in the outskirts of Kendrapara town. They also blocked the road for more than two hours opposing sale of liquor in the area.

Several people from the locality and surrounding areas supported the move but the IIC of Kendrapara Sadar police station, Pramod Mallick, said, ‘We will take legal action against those who ransacked the liquor shop.’

‘Earlier, we submitted memorandums to the district Collector, district superintendent of police and the excise officials to stop sale of liquor near the school.

But the authorities did not pay heed and so we ransacked the liquor shop,’ said Sabitri Moharana of Nageswarapur and president of Ma Durga Self Help Group.

The owner and the salesmen of the liquor shop managed to flee.

Liquor and narcotics have wreaked havoc and anti-social activities have gone up in the locality although police turned a blind eye, alleged Saraswati Behera of Nageswarapur.

The closure of liquor shops near national highways and state highways by the district authorities after a Supreme Court directive helped liquor vendors who started selling liquor illegally by the roadside.

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