Once complete, the just-announced Chandrabhaga and Talasari beach development projects in Odisha are sure to allure visitors from all over
By Siddhartha Tripathy
The contours of the Naveen Patnaik government’s grand plans of turning Odisha into a global tourist destination are getting clearer by the day.
Barely two weeks after writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a fairly long letter proposing the establishment of an international airport in the holy city of Puri, the five-time Chief Minister held a high-level meeting yesterday (January 12) where it was announced that the locally popular Chandrabhaga beach along the Puri-Konark marine drive and the Talasari-Udaipur beach in Balasore will be developed as world-class tourist attractions.
It was revealed in the meeting that the master plan for these ambitious projects, aimed at drawing visitors from across the nation and world, is already in place.
If all goes to plan, a kilometre-long stretch of the Chandrabhaga beach area will boast by next year various water and adventure sports, an open-air theatre, a cycling track, a children’s park, a long boardwalk along the shore, and a platform to enjoy sunrise.
To be run by solar energy, the developed area will also feature a waste management facility. As per the present plan, tourists will be able to enjoy these facilities only during the daytime.
On the other hand, the Talasari project will involve 2.4km of developed beach area where tourists can stay back and enjoy the place for a few days.
There will be much to do.
Outside the star-rated hotels that will be built to give tourists a taste of Odisha hospitality, there will be restaurants, pavilions, amphitheatres, rain shelters, sitting islands, kiosks and even an art and craft plaza. In addition to well-trained lifeguards, proper security arrangements will ensure 24/7 safety for tourists.
And with its deadline set for October this year, this project is expected to be up and running a good few months before its Chandrabhaga counterpart.
The Chief Minister is wasting no time in making tourism count for Odisha. The Blue Flag fluttering on Puri beach since last October stands testament to that.
In that long letter to the Prime Minister, Patnaik had detailed the importance of Puri rather smartly. Being the abode of Lord Jagannath, he wrote, the city is one of the holiest places in the world for Hindus. Then the Chief Minister elaborated on Puri’s proximity to and connectivity with other important World Heritage sites – such as the Sun Temple of Konark and Chilika Lagoon (also a Ramsar site) – and the Buddhist Circuit (including Dhauli, Lalitgiri and Ratnagiri) as he pointed to the enormous potential of the state for international eco-tourism.
Sure enough, tourism is becoming integral to the Odisha’s success story – whether it be as one of the most visible parts of the state’s overall industrial growth and economic development or as an important source of job generation.
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