2nd Chilika bird festival takes off

BHUBANESWAR: The second National Chilika Bird Festival took off at Mangalajodi on Sunday with an aim to promote eco-tourism and preservation of birds. Around 145 bird watchers from across the country attended the festival at the brackish water lake on the inaugural day. 

The two-day festival, jointly organised by Odisha Tourism, Forest and Environment Department and Chilika Development Authority, includes photo exhibitions, seminars and visit to Nalabana. 
“We want to promote and raise awareness about Chilika being the largest repository of migratory birds in Asia. Our aim is to make Odisha one of the hotspots of eco-tourism,” said Tourism Secretary Vishal Dev while welcoming guests and participants to the event. 

Additional Chief Secretary of Forest department Suresh Mohapatra said every participant of the Chilika National Bird Festival is an ambassador of this place and hoped that they would promote the lake as a tourist destination.

ohapatra said a record number of birds visited the lake this year after illegal gheris were removed by the Forest department. “Over one million birds of different species have been spotted in Chilika this year,” he said, adding, “In recognition of the efforts of the locals in preserving the lake, we want to empower them by extending livelihood in the form of sustainable tourism.”

Co-founder of Asian Birds Fair Andrew Sebastian, the technical speaker of the event, spoke on the importance of preserving birds and praised the State Government for organising the festival.  
Bombay Natural History Deputy Director B Sivananinthaperumal, Wildlife Researcher Tuhinansu Kar and Chilika Development Authority Additional Chief Executive Samrat Gowda were other technical speakers who stressed on preserving the biodiversity of Chilika.

Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Panda inaugurated the photo exhibition while Chilika Development Authority released a book titled ‘Fish and Shellfish Diversity and Its Sustainable Management in Chilika Lake’ at the event. 

The Mangalajodi Ecotourism Group was conferred with National Chilika Bird Festival award for its active involvement in bird protection.