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Jan 15, 2025 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a bid to effectively manage the urban deluge menace in the state capital, has initiated process to prepare a drainage master plan and detailed project report (DPR) for the purpose, with the help of IIT-Roorkee. Chairing a meeting of the civic body on Wednesday, mayor Sulochana Das informed that a proposal to this effect has been approved by the Housing and Urban Development department in October last year.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
BHUBANESWAR: The Forest department will strive to achieve 100 per cent response rate to wildfire incidents in the current forest fire season which began from January 1 and will continue till June-end, officials said. As per the Forest department statistics, Odisha recorded 22,868 forest fire points last year, the lowest in last three years, and had responded to 99.86 per cent of them. The state had recorded 28,755 fire points in 2022 and 36,713 in 2023.
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Jan 12, 2025 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
BHUBANESWAR: As tigress Zeenat completes 12 days in the South Similipal enclosure after its return from West Bengal on January 1, wildlife officials said the members of the steering committee will make a field visit to the tiger reserve soon to finalise a date for its re-release into the wild. “Zeenat’s behaviour following its release in the enclosure has been normal like any other full-grown cat in the wild. A team from Similipal south division is continuously monitoring it.
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Jan 11, 2025 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
BHUBANESWAR: Visitors to the Nandankanan Zoological Park have a new reason to rejoice as it has unveiled a state-of-the-art library with a digital library corner, a first for any zoo in the country. Nandankanan officials said the library, spread over 2,840 sqft area boasts of an impressive collection of 5,000 books, focusing on wildlife biology, biodiversity conservation, forestry, veterinary sciences and related subjects, offering an enriching experience for nature and animal enthusiasts.
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Jan 4, 2025 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
Similarly, work of 8,085 pucca houses against the approved 13,167 have been completed in Koraput district.
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Jan 2, 2025 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
BHUBANESWAR: Three-year-old tigress Zeenat’s 23-day habitat exploration, which finally ended at West Bengal’s Bankura district, has prompted the Odisha government to reevaluate its strategy of relocating big cats to more protected areas (PAs) of the state as part of its larger tiger supplementation programme. Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia on Thursday said the state government has planned to introduce tigers to Debrigarh and other landscapes.
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Dec 29, 2024 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
BHUBANESWAR: Despite immense pressure on its forests, Odisha has added 1,889 sq km green cover to its geographical landscape in the last one decade, improving its growing stock by 10 per cent for the recorded forest area (RFA) and 58 pc for the tree cover outside (RFA) during the period. This was stated in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, released by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) recently. The report revealed that it was an important indicator of forest health and productivity.
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Dec 27, 2024 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
BHUBANESWAR: Suspecting encroachment of a staggering 570 acre earmarked for rehabilitation of families relocated from Chandaka wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, the forest department has asked Bhubaneswar tehsildar for immediate identification and updation of database of the land patches. Sources said, the lands do not reflect in the name of their actual owners in Bhulekh portal of the Revenue department and could have been transacted illegally.
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Dec 27, 2024 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
BHUBANESWAR: The Madhya Pradesh government has given its approval for relocation of a pair of tigers, a male and a female, to Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Bargarh district from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. PCCF Wildlife Prem Kumar Jha said in-principle approval for relocation of the big cats to Debrigarh has already been received from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
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Dec 19, 2024 | 
newindianexpress.com | Sudarsan Maharana
BHUBANESWAR: The Wildlife Wing of the Forest, Environment and Climate Change department has decided to conduct the annual bird census across the state on a single day on January 18, 2025. The survey this year will also include satellite tagging of certain migratory bird species, flamingos in particular. PCCF (wildlife) and chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha informed TNIE that the annual bird census used to be a two day affair but will be held on a single day this time.
