The Chadheihaga island in Chilika lagoon could soon turn a ghost island, thanks to idiotic plans of the Odisha Government. The Government has planned to convert the island, nestled within the calm waters of the lake and home to millions of migratory birds every winter, into a Jurassic Park, albeit artificial.
As huge sculptures of Triceratops, Sauropods, Elasmosaurus and Hadrosaurus are to be erected on the rocky terrain to attract tourists, again a foolish move by the Tourism Department. The birds in all possibility will shy away from this abode in the coming years.
The Department is planning to install a series of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) structure of the Jurassic age animals in the island, which has earned its name from bird-droppings. It is the bird faeces which is stated to have whitened the hillock top.
The Odisha Tourism Development Corporation will install at least 34 such sculptures around the island. Twenty-six of these sculptures will be about eight feet in height and another eight will be about 15 feet high and 40 feet in length.
In fact, one such sculpture has already been installed while the Department has already invited tenders for 34 more, a move which has drawn criticism from the hospitality sector. “How can the Bird Island be converted into a dinosaur park without any historical basis? What is the point having sculptures of pre-historic animals in an island known for migratory birds?,” wondered an insider of the Tourism Department.
The proposal for installing FRP structures in the island apparently came from an MLA of Ganjam district and the Department went ahead with it.
The project apart, the Tourism Department has also planned a pathway under its Destination Development Scheme under which a nature’s trail will be created around the island.
The series of projects has raised questions on ecological viability of installations inside an island in the lagoon, which is a major attraction of migratory birds. “There is nothing wrong in promoting eco-tourism, but such projects will bring in day visitors leading to problems of littering of waste and its repercussions. It may also end up driving away the birds, whose number has been declining in the lagoon,” said a Forest and Environment Department official.
That apart, issues of Coastal Regulatory Zone restrictions and forest clearances may also crop up. However, Director of Tourism H S Upadhyay said no project will be carried out in violation of any law.
OTDC’s Executive Engineer (Building project-I) Akshaya Jena said Chadheihaga Island is a revenue land and hence, will not attract any forest restrictions. Besides, there are no plans to erect any concrete structures in view of the CRZ norms. “We will just use the existing rocks to design the pathway,” Jena informed.