KENDRAPARA: Emergence of millions of baby Olive Ridley marine turtles along the tranquil Gahirmatha beach has brought cheers to conservationists here.
Wildlife lovers are elated as hatchlings broke out of eggshells and began their seaward journey from the nesting grounds at Nasi-2 Island. About 1.68 lakh turtles had arrived at Nasi-2 nesting ground from March 20 to March 28 to lay eggs on the sandy beach.

Bhubaneswar: An alert was sounded along the Odisha coast on Wednesday with warnings issued to fishermen and people following the massive earthquake off Sumatra coast. The alert was issued to the administration in six districts - Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Ganjam and Puri, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Mohapatra said.

Though there is no cause for worry, the government may take steps to evacuate people in some coastal areas if necessary due to the possibility of high tides, he said adding people, particularly tourists, have been asked to remain watchful.

KENDRAPARA: The Maguragandapatana primary school in Maguragandapatana village here has just one classroom for 90 students. Worse, it has no walls and looks more like a cowshed. While all the students are packed into this room, other basic amenities in the school are non-existent. There is no furniture for the students. The 90 students include 30 girls.

“Sanitation wise, the school does not have even one toilet on its premises,” said Sarat Majhi, father of a student.

KENDRAPADA: Death of many crows in the port town of Paradip on Sunday and Monday has triggered panic among residents, who have been advised by forest and veterinary officials not to touch the carcasses. "Around 50 crows died in Paradip on Sunday and Monday. People of the affected areas were instructed not to handle the dead crows without gloves. They were also instructed to bury the dead crows by digging deep holes so that the disease cannot spread to more areas," said Dr Premananda Rout, chief district veterinary officer (CDVO) of Jagatsinghpur on Monday.

BHUBANESWAR/JAJPUR: With flood situation in four North Orissa districts remaining grim, the State Government on Saturday started air-dropping of food packets as 992 villages continued to be marooned for the second consecutive day.

Meanwhile, six persons died and another went missing in flood waters. While two persons died in Jajpur district, one each died in Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Mayurbhanj districts.

This apart, snakebite cases were reported from Kendrapara district.

Bhubaneswar: The inter-ministerial Central team on Wednesday said that up to 80 percent crop loss was estimated due to floods that had also caused large-scale damage to kuchha houses.

The crop loss varies from place to place. It could be about 50 to 80 percent in Sambalpur and Jajpur respectively. Agricultural fields were submerged by flood water for over a week.
Therefore, there is no chance of getting any return from cultivation, M C Diwakar, director, Directorate of Rice Development, ministry of agriculture, Patna, said.

Flood situation continues to be critical in Bhadrak, Jajpur and Kendrapara districts of Orissa as officials stumbled upon more dead bodies in affected regions taking the toll to 38 on Wednesday.

Nine deaths each have occurred in worst-affected Jajpur and Bhadrak districts. Neighbouring Kendrapara follows closely with six deaths. Besides, the State government is waiting for confirmation of three alleged deaths in Angul, Mayurbhanj and Kendrapara district.

Bhubaneswar: With the flood situation in northern Odisha further worsening, the state government on Sunday intensified air-dropping of food packets as 3003 villages remained marooned while the death toll climbed to 11.
While the number of marooned villages was 992 till last evening, more than 2,000 villages had been inundated overnight, revenue and disaster management minister Surya Narayan Patra said, adding that the death toll increased to 11 after five persons were swept away in flood water.

Kendrapada: The outbreak of avian flu in Nadia district of the neighbouring West Bengal has triggered an alert here in the Bhitarakanika National Park in Kendrapada district.

The park and the district animal husbandry officials on Thursday sounded alert to the inhabitants in and around the Park to take precautionary measures for possible outbreak of Bird Flu, by distributing leaflets among the gullible villagers, said Rajnagar mangrove forest and wildlife division DFO Manoj Kumar Mohapatra.

Bhubanewsar The Orissa government on Thursday submitted a memorandum to the central government seeking financial assistance of R2,120.92 crore for relief and rehabilitation in flood affected areas of the state.