Locals saving Chilika birds to be empowered: Suresh Mohapatra
The second National Chilika Bird Festival kick-started at Mangalajodi , Chilika to promote ecotourism and preserve birds. The two-day festival includes photo exhibitions, seminars and visit to the Nalabana Island.
The event began with welcome speech by Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Odisha Tourism Vishal K Dev.
Additional Chief Secretary, Forest and Environment Suresh Mohapatra said, “We are extremely happy to have participants from all over the country. This year we have around 1 million migratory birds present in Chilika. We are recognising the efforts by the locals in preserving Chilika lake and want to empower them by helping them with livelihood in form of sustainable tourism.”
Minister Tourism and Culture Ashok Panda inaugurated the photo exhibition. The other dignitaries were MP Prasanna Kumar Patasani, Khurdha MLA Rajendra Kumar Sahoo, Khurdha Collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra and Tourism Director RP Singh.
Chilika Development Authority also released its book ‘Fish and Shellfish Diversity and Its Sustainable Management in Chilika Lake.’ Around 145 bird watchers from all over India joined the event.
Among others, co-founder of Asian Birds Fair Andrew Sebastian, Deputy Director of Bombay Natural History Science B Sivananinthaperumal, Wildlife researcher Tuhinansu Kar and Additional Chief Executive, Chilika Development Authority, Samrat Gowda, spoke.
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