Soon Asia’s largest brackish water lake, Chilika, is going to be an international tourism centre. It has been proposed to spend Rs 450 crore for making it a tourism hub.
All the international standard facilities will be made available for tourism. The Union Government has decided not only for the development of Chilika, but also its peripheral growth.
The financial grants would be spent through Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) plan. Presently, the tourists are availing boating facilities in Chilika, but when modern facilities will be extended, the tourists will get chances of surfing.
The colourful surf- boards will be provided to the tourists, who can stand, sit or lie on and ride the waves towards the shore. Such sporting facilities will tempt the youngsters.
Modern boarding and lodging facilities will be made available to the tourists. Different kinds of resorts, conference halls, tourism- modes and hotels for tourists would available.
The tourist spots like Satpada, Barkul, Rambha and Khalik of Mangala Jodi etc will be included within the tourist circuit.
At the same time, the tourists can avail traditional dresses of local people, including local food and handicraft. The whole adjoining areas of Chilika will consequently be quite a mega business hub. Besides, adjoining tourists centre of Khordha, Puri, Nayagarh, and Ganjam will be made alluring for tourists. The Central Government wants to make the tourism industry more resourceful.
The Nalabana wild life sanctuary was established through a State Government notification no 23403 in 1987. Chilika comes under the revenue districts of Khurda, Puri, and Ganjam districts.
The total area of the Nalabana sanctuary, known for its avifauna, is 15.53 sq km. This tourist spot can be approached via Puri, Satapada, Balugaon and Barakula located close to NH-5.
The nearest railway stations are Rambha and Balugaon. The nearest air port is Bhubaneswar. Best accommodations can be available right at Barkul.
It is nature’s splendid gift. The bio- aesthetic lagoon is well accessible by road, air and rail.
The natural vegetations, which too are primary food chain linkages of the lagoon, are reeds, algae, different kinds of ferns and other aquatic vegetations.
This aquatic abode provides a rich habitat to several reptiles, mammals and other aquatic creatures. Turtles, tortoises, Irrawadi dolphins, various kinds of fish and other aquatic creatures are seen in the Chilika lake.
There are accommodation facilities from Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) here at Rambha and Satapada other than several private hotels.
The splendour of Chilika’s bird population is a major attraction for tourists. Both monsoon and winter birds are found in large numbers in the lake.
They include both migratory and residential birds. As it is a meeting point of a few rivers, rivulets and water channels and the Bay of Bengal, the lake creates a unique eco-climate and supports variable bio-diversities.
The international tourism project will be undertaken as an Indo-German joint venture.Chilika, like other biodiversity hubs, is facing various threats to its rich marine eco-system.
Pollutions, like accumulation of effluents, dumping of sewage from various hotels and eating houses and biotic interference are some of the major threats.
Various types of fish in the lagoon are dwindling by the day. And, fisherman families, who depend on Chilika fish, are facing a livelihood crisis.
There are mudflats within the wetlands of Chilika lagoon. The deposition of siltthrough the action of rivers, rivulets, other water streams and channels is the main reason for creation of mudflats. These mudflats give rise to mangrove forests in course of time.
The mangrove or the estuarine forests are protected by the local Forest Department under the provision of Odisha Forest Act, 1972 and the Wild life Protection Act, 1972.
Rising human pressure, no-holds-barred land grabbing and prawn culture have posed a threat to the mangrove wetlands.
Thousands of hectares of mangrove wetlands are now under the possession of prawn mafia. When the world is concerned for climate change vagaries, the natural eco-system of Chilia is damaged for various non-forestry practices with sheer violation of Forest Conservation Act.
Construction activities for creation of an international standard tourism hub and extending of all kinds of international standard facilities to the tourists may also affect the ecology of Chilika lagoon.
Therefore, it is necessary to give keen attention to the guidelines for management of the Ramsar site.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)