KENDRAPADA: For the first time, the state’s tourism department is set to organize a three-month eco retreat festival in Bhitarkanika National Park from December 1 to February 28 to attract domestic and international tourists to the country’s second largest mangrove forest.
“The festival will be organized on the banks of a river at Nalitapatia village near the park. Fifteen luxury tents will be set up for the tourists. The tents will be equipped with water and power connection and will also have parking facilities. Cultural shows, food festivals, trekking in the forest and a visit to the nearby beach at Pentha will also be organized for the visitors during their stay here,” Samarth Verma, the district collector of Kendrapada, said.
A meeting was held on Friday to review the preparedness for the festival.
Last year, the state government had organized a month-long eco-retreat festival along the Marine Drive on Chandrabhaga beach near the famous Konark sun temple from December 14.
The state tourism department will soon start online booking of the tents for the festival. The camp is situated contiguous to the Bhitarkanika National Park and is adjacent to the dense mangrove forest with its great primates.
Bikash Ranjan Dash, the divisional forest officer of the park, said, “This park is a treasure trove of crocodiles, birds, snakes and a wide variety of flora and fauna. Its beautiful water bodies and lush green mangrove forest are bound to leave visitors mesmerized. It brings travellers from across the country and the world every year. We selected Nalitapatia village, which is 6km from the park for the festival, so that its wildlife was not disturbed. The festival will help generate income for the local communities.”
He added, “The Bhitarkanika National Park is a Ramsar site. It is home to spotted deer, salt-water crocodiles, water monitors, pythons and sambars. It also sees the arrival of a large number of migratory birds every year during winter.”
A photo exhibition, a seminar and exhibition of films on Bhitarkanika and other wildlife will be organized during the three-month festival, the officer said.
The Gahirmatha marine sanctuary within the Bhitarkanika is the world’s largest rookery of the endangered Olive Ridley Sea Turtles.
In a bid to attract more tourists, particularly foreigners, the authorities have also built cottages at Habelikothi, Gupti, and Danagamal. “We are also laying emphasis on sustainable tourism to generate employment for the locals,” the officer said. In 1975, the forest and environment ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had started a crocodile breeding and rearing project in Dangamal within the park.
Thanks to the success of the project, the crocodile population started increasing in the creeks, river and other water bodies of the park and its nearby areas. The park is now home to 1,757 crocodiles as per this year’s census.
Ten years ago, the Guinness Book of World Records had registered the presence of a 23-foot long salt-water crocodile in Bhitarkanika as the largest crocodile in the world.