Lack of facilities hits Talasari tourist footfall

BARIPADA: Unlike the beaches at New and Old Digha in neighbouring West Bengal which attract hordes of tourists, the one at Talasari in Balasore district finds a few takers due to lack of basic amenities.  
Talasari beach, located at a distance of 2.5 km from Chandaneswar Shiva temple in Bhograi block and 90 km from the district headquarters town of Balasore, is surrounded by Casuarina trees. Though the colour of the water is muddy, the beach is scattered with red crabs, giving it a distinct look. However, this has not been able to lure tourists to the beach where lack of cleanliness remains a major cause of concern. 

The beach lacks hotels, drinking water facility, seating arrangement, space for picnickers, proper lighting and boating facility. Besides, a canal between Subarnarekha river and the beach has become an impediment for tourists. A bridge over the canal has been a long-standing demand which is yet to be looked into by the authorities concerned. 

As per reports, around 14,670 people visited the beach in 2012 and the number went up to 1,93,789 in 2014. However, there has been a drop in tourist footfall in the last four years. Since 2014, the Forest department has not maintained data of tourist footfall at the beach. 

Locals said despite Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s assurance of developing the beach, nothing has been done to promote it as a tourist spot. Several meetings were held among officials at the State Secretariat to develop Udaypur-Talasari-Chandaneswar-Bichitrapur tourist circuit as a beach tourism destination. Infrastructure development works like construction of pathway, water sports facilities, construction of a 300-metre foot overbridge over the creek to connect the mainland to Talasari beach, renovation of fishery jetty, tourist reception centre and others were proposed under the plan. The initial investment for infrastructure development of the circuit had been estimated at `4,302 crore. However, no steps have been taken for implementing the project and funds are yet to sanctioned till date.

Contacted, Bhograi MLA and School and Mass Education Minister Ananta Das said he had initiated steps to erect temporary tents for tourists and construct a hanging bridge over the canal along with a foot walk road. But forest land has emerged as a bottleneck for the projects. 

“I had tried my best to resolve the problem but the Forest department never pays any attention in this regard. All bottlenecks will be cleared if Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directly intervenes in the matter,” he said. Das said he will meet the Chief Minister to address the pertinent issues.