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Medical facilities for ex-servicement in Orissa are currently available at INS Chilka, INHS Nivarini, Army AD College Gopalpur and the three ECHS Polyclinics at Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and Balasore.

As per a report in Pioneer, six more ECHS Polyclinics would be shortly inaugurated at Sambalpur. Dhenkanal, Angul, Puri, Bhawanipatna and Sundargarh.

Following are some excerpts from that report.

… Makara Dehuri’s been steadily losing weight. The 35-year-old miner from Ostpala village doesn’t know what’s wrong with him.

Over 2 lakh people in Sukinda suffer from some form of hexavalent chromium poisoning because of the untreated water discharged by the mines into the Brahmani River.

Sukinda contains one largest open cast chromite ore mines in the world. As much as 60 percent of drinking water here is poisoned.

“Drinking water is a major problem for us. If we tell our boss he will suspend us from our job,” says a villager in Orissa, Makara Dehuri.

The recent study has chosen these places for the severity of its toxins, its impact on human health and the extent of damage caused. …

Somebody should file a PIL or sue the government and the mining industry in Sukinda.

Baji Mohammed is one of India’s last living freedom fighters – just one of four or five nationally recognised ones still alive in Orissa’s Koraput region. He is not talking about British brutality in 1942. (Though he has much to say on that, too.) He’s describing the vicious attack on him during the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, half a century later. “I was there as part of a 100-member peace team.” But the team was given no peace. The old Gandhian fighter, already in his mid-seventies, spent ten days in hospital and a month in a Varanasi ashram recovering from the injury to his head.

In an editorial page article in Indian Express, Ila Patnaik says the following about Orissa.

We examine data on projects under implementation in various states in the CMIE Capex data base. We compare data for June 2007 with June 2002 to assess how a state has fared on investment compared to its previous performance. … Orissa is also a major gainer, particularly over the last five years. It went from rank 8 to rank 2 over the last five years. While the Indian average for projects under implementation on a per capita basis grew by 93 per cent, Orissa gained by 381 per cent over the last five years to reach Rs 61,811 of investment per capita.

The article also has the following table.

(a picture of Dolphins in Satapada from the Orissa government photo gallery)

New Indian express reports that an ecological park will be setup in Satpada. Satpada is famous for Irrawady dolphins in the area. Following are excerpts from the New Indian Express article.

“Satpada, the approach to the home of Irrawady dolphins in Chilika, will soon have a distinct feel and look about it. Almost everything about this tourist spot would now connect either to the brackish water lagoon or to its rare aquatic species.

A theme-based park and illumination based on dolphins will be the highlight of the face-lift that the State Government is planning for this tourist site.

The tourist arrival in Chilika through Satpada is on the rise – from 76,000 in 2005 to 96,000 in 2006 and the Government is keen to leverage from it.

The Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Ahmedabad, has been roped in by Chilika Development Authority (CDA) to conceptualise and design an eco-park at Satpada over a 4.5 acre land near the latter’s visiting centre.

Estimated at a budget of Rs 15 lakh, the park’s central theme will revolve around Chilika itself. “The park will give tourists a feel of the ambience of the lagoon. Special sections on avian and aquatic species of Chilika will find place in the park,” CDA Chief Executive Dr Sudarshan Panda said.

Besides, CDA has also tied up with a private sector electrical major which has designed what it terms ‘dolphin-lights’ for the first time. Panda said, the lights are designed in dolphin shape and are going to be launched at Satpada where streetlights will be installed over a stretch of 400 metres.

Apart from disseminating information about the lagoon, these measures will also put up a strong case for conservation needs of the lagoon. The Orissa Government has already banned use of polythene bags in the lagoon and CDA has been authorised to implement it.

Panda said a local development committee is also being constituted to look after maintenance of the new installations. The committee will have power to collect parking fees from tourists and maintain streetlights in days to come.”

Following up on the ad that appeared in Samaja, there have been several reports with more details. Following are excerpts from a New Indian Express report.

The airline will operate eight-seater aircraft from the Capital City to places like Barbil, Keonjhar, Jharsuguda, Jeypore, Sambalpur and Rayagada.

Ticket fare to Barbil would cost around Rs 5000 and to Jeypore Rs 7000. For corporate flyers and individuals buying to and fro tickets, a 40 percent discount can be availed of as an introductory offer.

General Manager (operations) Sumit Mukherjee said, those buying one-way ticket would also be given a 30 percent concession. Talking to mediapersons here, he said, the airline had already positioned one Islander BN2T turboprop aircraft capable of short takeoff and landing on these routes.

The travelling time would vary from 50 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Services would run on all days expect Sundays. A Bell 206 BIII helicopter with four seats would be introduced for charter service, he said. Sky Airways is a division of New Delhi-based GSI Pvt. Ltd and is headquartered in Kolkata.

… “We will introduce two aircraft to these places with a seating capacity for 19 passengers before the end of the current year.”

Another news item mentioned that they plan to fly from such towns to Kolkata in the future.

Following are excerpts on this from a New Indian Express report.

… Island tourism is a big hit elsewhere, but Orissa is waking up to it now for the first time. The Orissa Tourism and Chilika Development Authority have joined hands to launch it at three islands near Muggermukh from November.

Over 96,000 tourists – domestic and foreign – visited Chilika taking Satpada route in 2006 but most visitors take a boat ride, look to sight dolphins and go back home. But both Tourism Department and CDA want tourists to spend more time in the lagoon and that’s how the Island Tourism concept came into their minds.

The three islands near Muggermukh were identified by the CDA. Created out of dredged materials, the islands are of different sizes – largest being 21 acre and the smallest spread over eight acre.

According to Director, Tourism Rabi Narayan Nanda, private operators will be roped in to provide 3-star and 4-star tenting accommodation for visitors. …

The private vendor would take care of the transportation through fast-moving boats, food and accommodation, lighting as well as security measures. In fact, this will be marketed in attractive tourist packages, he said.

Called Dredged Islands 1, 2 and 3, these three are free from forest laws and do not come under Coastal Regulatory Zone provisions making the task easy for Tourism Department well as CDA. However, no construction will be allowed in the islands.

“We’ve developed these islands and carried out extensive plantation. Babul, Neem and Casuarina plants have given them a whole new face,” Chief Executive of CDA Sudarshan Panda said.

Update: The PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=33543 is a Rajya Sabha answer on this topic.

Following are excerpts from a Times of India report.

The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) on Wednesday unveiled plans to expand and modernise the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) with an investment of Rs 7,800 crore. RSP, which presently has a capacity of 2.2 million tonnes per annum, would be converted into a four MTPA facility by June, 2010. Its production would be further enhanced to eight MTPA by 2019-20, said company’s director (personnel and raw materials) G Ojha here. According to Ojha, RSP’s expansion is part of SAIL’s plan to invest Rs 49,000 crore in its different units and mines within the next three to three-and-half years. … Ojha said that post-expansion, SAIL’s production capacity would touch 26 MTPA of hot metal compared to its existing capacity of 14.6 MTPA. This would mean 23 MTPA of saleable steel," he informed. The company also intends to spend a substantial sum of money to improve its mining operations, including over Rs 1,100 crore in Orissa, he added. Regarding SAIL’s recent MoU with South Korean company Posco, the director said, "We want to indulge in exchange of technology and people. "We also plan collaboration in research and development activities and accordingly, an eight-member team, comprising four from each company, has been formed. This is just the beginning," he said. He allayed fears that the MoU could lead to SAIL’s privatisation and clarified that the pact was not legally enforceable and just an understanding for collaboration. … The SAIL director also reiterated the company’s interest to takeover the Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) in Orissa’s Jajpur district and said, IDBI, as an independent valuer, has already assessed the company’s worth. "In case the stakeholders (MMTC and Orissa government) have any reservations, then we are ready for further parleys. But, ideally, the valuers version should be honoured," he said.

Following is an excerpt from a Telegraph report.

Sukinda valley in Orissa�s Jajpur is one of the most polluted places in the world, according to a report by the US-based Blacksmith Institute.

The institute provides solutions to pollution-related problems.

From India, Sukinda has ranked fourth and Vapi, a 400km industrial belt in Gujarat, is fifth on the list of 10 most polluted places.

The valley, about 140km from here, is spread across Dhenkanal and Jajpur districts and has the largest chrome ore deposit in the country — 97 per cent of India�s reserves. Mining is done by the opencast method.

According to the report, �12 mines continue to operate without any environmental management plans and over 30 million tonnes of waste rock are spread over the surrounding areas. The mines discharge untreated water into the river. This area is also flood-prone, resulting in further contamination of the waterways.�

The problem is �beyond the means of the state to solve�.

Environmentalists said the report is damning evidence of the impact rampant mining has on Orissa.

… However, chairman of Orissa State Pollution Control Board L.N. Patnaik described the report as �silly�. �I see a lot of personal agenda behind the report. It is a design to stop mining activities. If there is mining, there would be some air pollution. But to say that Sukinda is one of worst polluted places in the world is ridiculous,� he said.

The comment by OSPC Board Chairman Mr. Patnaik is outrageous. He should talk about what steps his organization is taking, if any, to minimize pollution. Instead of saying that he talks about personal agenda. Does that mean OSPC is not taking any steps to reduce pollution?