Efforts on to protect peacocks in Ganjam district

Administration has proposed a joint effort by Revenue, Forest and Agriculture Departments for protection of peacocks in jungles near Pakidi hill in Ganjam district.

It may be noted that use of pesticide in a cotton field led to the death of 13 peacocks in Pakidi area about a fortnight back. It was a shock for the villagers of the area as since long they are involved in protection and conservation of the national bird. Although, till now, no enumeration has been done, it was assessed that there may be around 3,000 peacocks in the Pakidi forest.

Ganjam district Collector Kishen Kumar held a meeting regarding protection of these peacocks at Shergarh. The meeting was attended by president of local Peacock Protection Committee (PPC) Samir Pradhan, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ramesh Sethi, Shergarh Block Development Officer (BDO) D. Singh, local officers of agriculture and veterinary departments. In this meeting it was decided that forest and agriculture department would jointly prepare an action plan for conservation of peacocks in the area so that interest of peasants may not get hampered.

Promotion of bio-agriculture to reduce use of chemical pesticides was also point of discussion in this meeting. It was decided to hold awareness building camps in villages of the area to promote use of bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides for agriculture in the area. Plans were made to build up water tanks on the foot hill of Pakidi hill to provide water source to the peacocks of the area. The issue of stone crushers that have become major menace for the peacocks living in the area also came up for discussion. It may be noted that local villagers united under the PPC with the help of forest department have played exemplary role in the protection of the peacock habitat in the area. Peacocks of the area are also quite friendly with the human populace of the area. Villagers of Sobhachandpur, Kerikerijhola, Ambuabadi, Bharatapalli, Kirtipur, Narendrapur, Chermaria and Nuagaon etc are involved in this peacock conservation work protect and save the national bird on an area of around 917 hectares around the Pakidi hill.

Efforts of these villagers who have got united under the PPC were honoured through the Biju Patnaik memorial award for wild life protection in 2006.

Source: The Hindu 

Ganjam faces drought

By Hrusikesh Mohanty

Berhampur: The gods of nature, it seems, are terribly angry with Orissa. While the north and central parts of the state are suffering from devastating floods, Ganjam, a southern district, is inching towards drought.

Agriculture officials said paddy crops in around 12,000 hectares of land in the district were already suffering from moisture stress condition due to no rainfall since September 23 last. Besides, paddy cultivation could not be started in around 13,000 hectare owing to erratic rainfall, sources said.

The district had a target to cultivate paddy and non-paddy crops in 2.23 lakh and 1.88 lakh hectares of land respectively during the kharif seasons. The district administration has estimated more than 50 per cent crop loss in 1056 villages of 15 blocks. Agriculture officials, however, said the situation improved with some rainfall in the first week of September. The situation, however, worsened due to lack of rain since September 23.

"The situation is very precarious," Ganjam collector Krishan Kumar said. "We have been monitoring the situation daily," he added. He asked agriculture and irrigation officials to make combined efforts to save the crops.

Against the districtas average paddy productivity of 30.65 quintal per hectare, the district targeted 38.50 quintal this year. "It is unlikely that the target productivity would be achieved as rain continues to play hide and seek," said deputy director of agriculture (Ganjam) Aparti Sethi.

Source: Times of India

Berhampur girl grabs gold in Commonwealth Youth championship at Cape Town

Following the footsteps of K Ravi Kumar, another weightlifter of Berhampur city, Minati Das, brought fame to the state. She won gold in the ongoing Commonwealth Youth Girls championship at Cape Town. Ravi, who had won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games-2010, had also won the medal in the Commonwealth (youth) championships earlier.

Fifteen-year-old Minati of Old Berhampur area won in the 44-kg category, said vice-president of Indian Weightlifting Federation and general secretary of Berhampur-based Veer Hanuman Club Narayan Sahu. Seven girls from the country, including Das, were participating in the youth (girl) category. Though Minati has participated in many national events, the commonwealth (youth) championship is her first international participation. She had a rigorous practice session in Bangalore before this. We are proud that another youth from our club won the prestigious medal in the international event, Sahu said.

Minati is the second daughter of Pramod Das, a farmer and leader of Ganjam District Scheduled Caste Federation. Out of his four children, Minati was the one very keen on sports. At present, she is a Class X student of Government Girlsa High School, Berhampur.

Source: The Times of India 

Tara Tarini Development Board takes great pleasure in wishing you happiness and prosperity on the divine occasion of Dusshera,

the festival that symbolizes the Triumph of Good over Evil.

May the divine blessings of

Maa Tara Tarini be with you always!

Silk City Berhampur gears up for 9-day Durga Puja carnival

Durga puja is also known as Navratri Puja which says the worshipping of goddess Durga for nine days. Like Kolkata, Gujarat and Cuttack, Berhampur also gears up for Durga Puja. With the Mahalaya, devotees have welcomed the goddess Durga amidst all pomp and show to bring bountiful yield and happiness to every household.

Ganjam is famous for its religious “shakti shrines” where the ritual of the 16-day festival is strictly followed. This ritual is known as “Shodasa Upachara” unlike in other parts of the country where it lasts for three to nine days. The prominent Sakti shrines in Ganjam include presiding deity of South Odisha Tara Tarini near Purusottampur, goddess Narayani near Khallikote, goddess Mahamayee (Budhi Thakurani) of Berhampur, goddess Bhairavi at Mantridi, 15 km away from Berhampur, goddess Ramachandi at Gadamanitri, 5 km away from Ganjam town, Mahuri Kalika, Ghata Kalika, Kandhuni Devi, Byaghra Devi, Balakumari, Barahi, Khambeswari, Simhasini, Shyamalai, Kureisuni and Siddha Harachandi. They are all geared up for the festival Dussehra.

Some Puja Mandaps in the city have started the rituals of Navaratripuja formally from Mahalaya night. The Silk City is known as one of the prominent socio-cultural centers of Odisha. The city connects two different cultures of Odia and Telugu since time immemorial.

The Puja bazaar is all set to make a good business in this session. The wholesale markets of garments are the commercial nerve centre as well as inter-State business centers of Odisha. Traffic is getting thicker gradually in the areas beginning from Head Post Office Square, Fire Station Road, Annapurna Road, Urban Bank Road, SNT Temple Road, Sanabazaar to Badabazaar area.

The puja mandaps of Komapalli Square, Courtpeta Square, Bijipur, Station Road, Old Bus Stand, Girija Square, Giri Market, Hanuman Bazaar and Badabazaar have been started formally for the nine day puja of goddess Durga from the night of Mahalaya. Out of total 39 worshiping places, nine have opened their puja pandals and started the rituals of the nine-day puja. Others may open on seventh or eighth day of the ritual of the Navratri Puja. The attraction of this year’s puja is the pandals draped in different colours, themes, and innovative arts and designs. According to a member Kali Prasad Patra of Bijipur Puja Committee, they have hired artists from Dhenkanal and Kolkata for the design of their puja pandal like a temple of Nepal. The pandal is made up of different coloured and designed mats, while the idol is of 15 feet height mesmerizing the devotees of the city. City administration, Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) and police are ready for the nine-day-long carnival. The District Administration has imposed ban on using of loud speaker after 10 pm of the night and it has only permitted bhajans for playing on the puja mandaps.