Katrang Villagers Adamant On Relocation

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

The ongoing tussle between the villagers of Katrang under Purunakote police station in Angul district and the forest officials seems to have reached a flashpoint as both are stuck to their viewpoint over relocation of the village to make way for Satkosia Tiger Reserve.

While the villagers are adamant that the administration must provide them suitable land for shifting to a new place, the forest officials have offered them nearly Rs 20 lakh for each family as a package for relocation. Katrang is an interior hamlet situated in the core area of Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary. This village is sparsely populated with nearly one hundred tribal families.

Some villagers said they knew how people of Raiguda went to through the travails of relocation. They have to struggle for several months to get basic amenities.

Sources at district administration indicated that the process of relocation of Katrang is being done and the villagers are being persuaded to shift to other places. Asanabahali village, also situated in the core area, is being shifted due to the tiger reserve, the sources said and added that earlier Raiguda village was relocated for such purpose.

Worthwhile to mention that the forest staff of Angul, Dhenkanal, Athamallik and Athagarh divisions have mounted search operation in Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary to trace the tigress which has gone missing since November last year. The female RBT's images could not be captured by powerful cameras fitted at different locations in the jungle fuelling speculation that the big cat has either been killed or died following protracted illness due to injuries. Officials of Angul Wildlife Division, however, are optimistic that the tigress would be found soon.

Local NGOs working for conservation of wildlife opined that missing of only RBT for months has blurred the image of Tiger Reserve and Satkosia's status as such could not be tenable now. It is high time that the wildlife wing must take the initiative for translocation of RBTs from other states for keeping the status of a Tiger Reserve alive, they added.      

GP Poll In Angul District: Candidates Likely To Face Hostile Voters As Basic Issues Ignored

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

With campaigning slowly picking up for panchayat poll in Angul district, candidates are expecting a hostile electorate who are facing hardship as basic issues like communication, drinking water, health and pollution are never resolved by their chosen representatives during their tenure.

Angul, one of the industrial hubs of Odisha and eastern India, is grappling with a major issue relating to safe motorable highway. The four lane work of National Highway 55 which passes through Angul town has been virtually abandoned. Gone are the days when it was a sprawling highway being praised by motorists and commuters as well. Potholes, ditches and broken path now resembles the highway which is the lifeline of Odisha. The Sambalpur-Cuttack NH 55 connects two major industrial cities of the state.

NH-55 with garbage all around near Hulurisinga square  

The four lane work has started in 2018 and was due to be completed in 2020. But, nearly fifty percent of the total work has been finished till date. Most of the work has been abandoned, reason of which is best known to the construction company.

The construction company brasses have become so powerful that they did not care the admonition of no less than the Deputy Speaker of Odisha Legislative Assembly Rajanikant Singh. Singh who is also the Member of Legislative Assembly(MLA) of Angul assembly constituency, had given the road construction company three month's ultimatum to finish the work, but to no avail. Angul District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain, while reviewing the four lane work at a high level meeting recently, had also directed the road construction company to expedite the work. But, there was no positive response from the company.

Over a dozen casualties have occurred in the past six months due to worst road condition which can never be categorized as an important highway that passes through an industrial hub linking two trade centres of Odisha.

The broken standpoint at Bantala

The government is boasting that it has successfully solved the drinking water issue in villages by linking households with pipes. The reality, is however, different. A visit to Bantala Gram Panchayat will change one's perception in this regard. The standpoints for drinking water are damaged as the project was abandoned. People of Bantala have been facing scarcity of potable water for years, but the elected representatives, especially the Panchayati Raj Institution(PRI) members, were never worried about the issue.

The health sector in the district is in a shambles as news reports on the alleged mismanagement in DHQ hospital in Angul are splashed in the national as well as regional media. Recently Angul hospital hugged the headlines in the newspapers after some journalists were manhandled for exposing hospital management on different issues. The medical college and hospital in the black diamond township,  Talcher, is yet to start due to utter negligence of authorities.

And last but not the least is the ever-present pollution issue that was never dealt properly to minimize the impact. People of Talcher lost hearth and home for coal but none cares as they are dying for a few buckets of potable water. Reports said over 200 villages surrounding open cast mines in Talcher sub-division are facing acute shortage of drinking water. Womenfolks have to traverse several kilometers to fetch water for their daily household need. The people's representatives have turned a blind eye to their problem as they allegedly dole out false promises every five year to mitigate their suffering.

Poor Road Connectivity: Athamallik Villagers To Boycott Panchayat Polls

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

People of six villages of Luhasinga gram panchayat in Athamallik sub division in Angul district have decided to boycott the panchayat polls next month protesting lack of road connectivity to their villages.

Aggrieved villagers of Kendupati, Jodapadar, Ranamunda, Dalki and Bankual alleged that years have elapsed, yet neither the elected members nor the authorities cared little to improve the condition of road communication to their villages.

' We are leading a cursed life. During monsoon the condition of patients becomes horrible as ambulances could not reach the villages due to poor road connectivity. There is nothing as existing road. It is interspersed with potholes, boulders and mud', they said.

Villagers of Dalki said they used to carry pregnant women and patients needing immediate treatment on slings to take them to primary health centres situated several kilometers away from their houses as ambulances could not reach due to mud and slippery road condition.   

Most of the villages lying in the interior pockets of Athamallik are inhabited by poor people belonging to tribal communities and they lack basic facilities like motorable road, drinking water supply and electricity. Neither the panchayati raj institution members nor the elected MLAs and MPs are concerned about the condition of poor people living in these villages surrounded by dense forest and hillocks.

NGOs working for the uplift of tribal community in the region alleged that officials are hardly seen visiting these villages. They further alleged that everything is maintained in pen and paper, but in reality no welfare activities are undertaken in the region.

  

Is Similipal Going Satkosia Way?

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

Is Similipal Tiger Reserve going Satkosia way? This apprehension has become evident among nature lovers and environmentalists as well in Odisha following alarming decrease in numbers of Royal Bengal Tigers(RBTs) in Similipal National Park over the years since its inception in 1980.

Media reports said Similipal National Park's number of tigers has come down to 28 from 101 in a decade. While the number of tigers was 101 in 2006, this has declined to 28 in 2019. The reports said that the national park in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha was once reputed for being a home to second largest number of tigers in India after Jim Corbett National Park.

The sorry state of affairs in Similipal has unnerved environmentalists in Odisha who have expressed fear that the national park might face the same fate as Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Angul district where the only tigress living in the sanctuary is missing for over two months triggering apprehensions that the animal has been poached or died of ailment. Although forest officials of Angul Wildlife Division said that the tigress was wounded, the cameras fitted at number of places inside the sanctuary could not have the footage since November 2021.

Sources said the Centre as well as the State have spent nearly Rs 70 cr in the past decade for tiger conservation in Similipal, but to no avail. The national park is spread over 2750 sq km and is recognized as a biosphere by UNESCO.

Environmentalists said this is high time that punitive measures be taken against forest officials responsible for the decline in number of tigers over the years. They must explain the factors that led to the alarming decline and what went wrong when both the Union and State governments are pumping in crores of rupees for conservation of the big cats in the national park.

Recently leopard hide were seized from Betnoti area in Mayurbhanj district. The animals were shot dead by poachers. Sources confided that an inter-state racket has been active in the region hunting animals on a spree.     

Satkosia: Scrapping Of Tiger Reserve Status Gains Momentum As Lone RBT Not Spotted Yet

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

Environmentalists have demanded that the status of Tiger Reserve given to Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary be scrapped immediately as the lone tigress has either been killed or died due to illness.

The tigress was not found in the surveillance cameras fitted in dense forest locality in the sanctuary  since November 23 last year. While officials of Angul Wildlife Division maintained that the female RBT is alive and moving all around the jungle, they however have failed to answer why the powerful camera lenses could not capture its image nearly two months after it has gone missing.

The wildlife officials including Divisional Forest Officer(DFO) have been stressing that there is every possibility that the maimed tigress might have taken shelter under bushes in the interior jungle pockets in the sanctuary for which it has remained out of camera range. They said efforts are on to find out the tigress as forest staff has fanned out to possible hideouts where the big cat might be resting due to illness.

Environmentalists alleged that officials of wildlife forest division in Angul were never concerned about the wellbeing of the lone tigress moving in and around the sanctuary for quite some years. They further alleged that the Government of India has been pouring huge sum amounting to crores of rupees for ensuring safe habitat for RBTs in Satkosia after it was declared a Tiger Reserve 14 years ago, but precious little has been done in this regard. The environmentalists leveled severe allegation that the earmarked sum for conservation of tigers was squandered away and misappropriated.

Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Angul district is spread over 795 sq km and was bustling with 18 RBTs in 2004. But, the tiger census conducted in 2018 confirmed that only one tigress was surviving. Nature lovers at Tainsi, Purunakote and other areas in Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary have been alleging that the forest officials never initiated efforts to identify the reason behind the animal's illness and did not try to attend to the ailing animal by qualified Vets.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had twice tried to relocate two RBTs, Mahavir and Sundari, in Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in 2018 for conservation of big cats, but it was not successful due to several factors. While Mahavir, which was brought from Kanha national park died, Sundari was relocated back to its parent location at Bandhavgarh as it turned man eater. A team from Madhya Pradesh tranquilized Sundari at Purunakote forest after a number of attempts to tame it.  

 

     

Banarpal ZP Poll Analysis: Smooth Ride Neither For BJD Nor For Congress

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

Electioneering is hotting up in Banarpal block in Angul district which will go to polls in February 16 to elect panchayati raj institution members. Political observers maintained that it might not be a smooth ride either for Deputy Speaker of Odisha Assembly and sitting BJD MLA of Angul Rajanikant Singh or for District Congress president Biplab Jena.

Both Singh and Jena belong to Kulad village under Banarpal block and carry on the legacy of their fathers who were elected as MLAs from Angul assembly constituency from BJD and Congress parties. Singh's father Adwait Prasad Singh was also one of the important ministers in Odisha ruling party's Cabinet.

Banarpal comes under Angul and Chhendipada assembly constituencies having 35 gram panchayats. Of the 35 seats, Angul and Banarpal blocks have 17 and 18 respectively. In addition to this, it also comes Dhenkanal and Sambalpur Parliamentary constituencies. Therefore, this region is politically more sensitive than other areas in Angul district.

Political analysts are of the view that infighting among the BJD leaders and workers in Chhendipada and Angul assembly constituencies is slowly becoming evident which will be detrimental to the prospects of ruling party in Odisha. This infighting has sent a wrong signal to other political camps such as BJP to take advantage in politics converting the ill-will into votes in favour of the party, the analysts said.

BJP leaders from Garh Santry said time has come for their party to capture as many seats as possible in the three tier panchayati raj election in Banarpal block. They said the political equation will be changed drastically as voters are preferring BJP than Congress or BJD. The undercurrent is there and it is quite evident that this time BJP will call shots, they added. 

Nature Lovers Delighted As Angul Dist Forest Cover Increases

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

Forest cover in the industrial district of Angul in Odisha has increased, according to the latest Forest Survey Of India report. This news has been widely acclaimed by local nature lovers as well as environmentalists.

The report said the forest cover in Angul district has increased from 1004 sq km to 1031.62 sq km in two years. The survey report from the autonomous agency in Dehra Dun, however, indicated that there is a decline in forest cover in the adjoining Dhenkanal district. Nearly 10 sq km forest area has been depleted in the past two years, the report said but added that the reason behind the decrease could not be ascertained.

The latest report from the authoritative organization has surprised nature lovers as well as forest officials that Dhenkanal district which was once vibrating with lush green forest, is no longer a reality.

Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra has approved the annual plan outlay of Rs 1241 cr in CAMPA's steering committee meeting in Bhubaneswar for regeneration of forest in the state. It was decided that nearly ten thousand Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Van Suraksha Samities (VSS) in the state will be engaged in forest management such as afforestation, protection of habitats, soil conservation and prevention of forest fire.

Attending the meeting, Principal Chief Conservator Of Forest Sisir Kumar Rath said afforestation  will be done in 15,000 ha at a cost of Rs 69 cr. He said services of VSS will be roped in for the mammoth task.