High Court bench in South Odisha: Ganjam Bar Association members block roads in Berhampur

Members of the Ganjam Bar Association blocked the roads in front of the Berhampur court on August 30 as part of their continuing agitation for the demand of establishment of a permanent bench of the Odisha High Court in the city. They also handed over a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the office of the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern division.

Through the memorandum, they urged the Chief Minister to immediately request the Central government for establishment of a permanent bench of the Odisha High Court in Berhampur. The lawyers of the Ganjam Bar Association also requested the CM to hold a meeting with the representatives of the bar association over the issue.

During their road blockade and demonstration, the agitating lawyers shouted slogans against the Justice C.R.Pal Commission calling for its withdrawal.

This single member judicial commission had been set up by the Odisha government through a notification made in March 2008 to enquire and investigate into the demands for permanent benches of Odisha High Court in South and Western Odisha. It was to furnish its report in six months but till now it has not come up with any interim report also.

The agitating lawyers alleged that in the name of this commission the decision on the demand for establishment of permanent bench of Odisha High Court for south Odisha in Berhampur was being delayed. President of the Ganjam Bar Association Kapileswar Patnaik Sadi said that they were planning to intensify their democratic agitation with support of people, which would also include road blockade and bandh calls.

A senior lawyer of Ganjam Bar Association, P.J.Padhi said hearing by a bench of Odisha High Court in Berhampur had occurred during the British era. According to him on January 4, 1937, then justice of High Court had held circuit court in Berhampur, which hinted that this city was considered suitable for a bench of the High Court for south Odisha even during the British era. Agitating lawyers shout slogans against Justice C.R. Pal Commission. Source: The Hindu 

Ganjam Bar Association to intensify stir for permanent High Court bench in South Odisha at Berhampur

Members of Ganjam Bar Association took out a bike rally in Berhampur as part of their plan to intensify their continuing stir for the demand of establishment of a permanent bench of Odisha High Court for South Odisha in Berhampur city.

All senior lawyers of the bar association, including its past office bearers led this bike rally. The bike rally started from the Berhampur court premises and traveled around the city to re-strengthen public support for the demand for establishment of High Court bench. President of the Ganjam Bar Association Kapileswar Patnaik said this rally was aimed at increasing public awareness regarding this genuine demand.

The lawyers of the Ganjam Bar Association claimed that Berhampur, as per the norms put forward by Jaswant Singh Commission report regarding establishment of High Court benches, was the most suitable place for a permanent bench of Odisha High Court. “As per the Yashwant Singh Commission report a permanent bench of the High Court should be established in revenue divisional headquarters and Berhampur and Sambalpur are divisional headquarters. Moreover Berhampur has all infrastructural facilities for proper functioning of a bench of the High Court,” said senior lawyers of the Bar Association.

Conspiracy

President of Ganjam Bar Association came down sharply on this mushrooming demand for establishment of demand for High Court bench from different places of south Odisha. “I feel the sudden mushrooming of such demands from different places may be a conspiracy to weaken the issue of establishment of High Court benches in different revenue divisions of the State,” Mr. Patnaik said.

As per the Ganjam Bar Association, their demand for establishment of permanent bench of Odisha High Court in Berhampur had started in 1985 and their demand was older than that of Sambalpur Bar Association of western Odisha. Although during past decades there were no such demands for establishment of High Court benches in any other part of south Odisha, all of a sudden such demands have started to crop up, which makes us smell something fishy, said Mr Patnaik. Source: The Hindu 

BERHAMPUR UNIVERSITY (BU) TO HOLD MEMORIAL LECTURES FOR SOUTH ODISHA LUMINARIES

The Berhampur University (BU) has decided to conduct a series of memorial lectures in the days ahead in memory of great luminaries and sons of southern Odisha, who have had immense contributions in different fields and disciplines such as education, art and culture, freedom struggle and language and literature for an overall growth and development of this region.

The decision was taken by the University Syndicate at its meeting held on Monday under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor Prof Deepak Behera. This was the first syndicate meeting after Prof Behera took over as the Vice-Chancellor. On the other hand, tension prevailed in the university campus on Monday after the removal of a poster by some miscreants which was displayed by a student group welcoming freshers to the campus. A similar incident had also taken place on Friday night when a welcome poster for new entrants fixed another student group was removed by some miscreants, reportedly the rival group, for which a complaint has been lodged at the Bhanja Vihar police outpost.

On Sunday night, a Linguistics student, Bhavanikanta Sahu, had pated the poster on the wall which was burnt by some miscreants of rival group giving rise to tension in the campus. While some faculty members cite the forthcoming students’ union elections as the reason for such mischief so as to remain in limelight, another group of faculty members and staff including local intellectuals, however, feel that some elements who were close to the previous administrative regime are trying to destabilise the current administration to settle scores for their vested interests.

According to sources, bills worth lakhs of rupees spent under different heads such as repair and renovation, construction and purchases for university auditorium, guesthouse and VC’s quarter, etc., during the previous regime without following standard accounts procedure are being pushed to the present regime for post-facto approval but are reportedly being disapproved. There is a public perception that such accounts should be checked through AG audit. Source: The Pioneer 

Airports Authority of India (AAI) team visits sites for Berhampur Airport

Source: The Sambad

A four-member team of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) arrived in the state to carry out a feasibility study for the proposed low-cost airport in Berhampur.  The team surveyed Rangeilunda and Ramchandrapur on the Berhampur-Gopalpur road to understand the local conditions for the possible air traffic movement.

The AAI team first visited the existing Rangeilunda airstrip on Berhampur University campus. It may be noted that the airstrip is active since past several decades. The airstrip spread over 40 acres of land was built during the British era during the World War II. It is now maintained by the State Public Works Department. At Rangeilunda airstrip, the AAI team held discussion with Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahy, executive engineer of public works department and other district officials. They studied whether the Rangeilunda airstrip could be developed into the proposed low-cost airport by adding up extra land to its south and west directions, said Mr. Panigrahy. The Gopalpur MLA said once the AAI finalises the site, the State government would provide all possible assistance for establishment of the airport near Berhampur. 

Later, the team reached Ramchandrapur to inspect around 300 acres of land that has been earmarked for the proposed low-cost airport. Speaking to newsmen, members of the AAI team said they would assess the cost-benefit ratio as well as feasibility of both sites and send their report to their authorities for the final decision.

“We have studied every detail of the situation at both the places, including the existing Rangeilunda airstrip and Ramchandrapur village, nearby. We will submit our feasibility report to the AAI for a final decision,” said the joint general manager (planning) of AAI P.K. Mahapatra, who led the team.

The PWD executive engineer, who is in-charge of the Rangeilunda airstrip, said: “The length of the present runway is 895 meters, which is insufficient for take-off and landing of commercial aircraft. The AAI is insisting on 3,500m long and 500m wide runway. There are now 150 acres of land at Rangeilunda airstrip. We can acquire another 200 acres in the nearby areas as required by the AAI for opening a small airport.’’

It may be noted that the Central government has taken a decision for setting up 51 low-cost airports in Tier-II and Tier-III cities in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. Three of them will be set up in the State in places like Berhampur, Rourkela, and Keonjhar. The four-member AAI team will also visit the two other sites for the proposed low-cost airports in the State. Sources: The Hindu, The Pioneer & The Telegraph

Source: ORISSA POST

Padma Sambhav Mahavihar at Jirang near Berhampur: The largest Buddhist monastery in Eastern India

Ray of hope for lighthouses in Odisha

Gopalpur-on-Sea (Berhampur)

If you love spending time on the beach, wait for a spate of exciting activities in the near future. The directorate of Lighthouses and Lightships, Mumbai, has decided to include three heritage lighthouses of Odisha to make them more attractive with beautiful landscape designs, conservation work, development of amenities and cafeterias. Three lighthouses at Gopalpur, Chandrabhaga and Paradip port will be developed as tourist destinations and have additional recreational avenues for which Union tourism ministry will be spending money. The shipping ministry has decided to develop 15 such heritage lighthouses across the coast of India.

Gopalpur, the famous beachfront town near Berhampur city in Ganjam district of Odisha is also a well-known tourist destination. “In the past, we have climbed on the top of the lighthouse, and seen the beautiful Bay of Bengal and the shadow of it on the beach. With the proposal from the shipping ministry to make it more attractive, a lot of tourists will definitely avail the opportunity to explore the British-era wonder,’’ said Manas Panigrahi of Berhampur city, which is also known for its silk saris.

Gopalpur lighthouse came into existence in 1871 for assisting coastal shipping between Rangoon and Coromandal coast ports. The steamer service to Rangoon also touched Gopalpur port in the past. Local residents said due to erosion of the coast in 1943, the lighthouse got heavily damaged and stopped functioning. Later, it remained unused due to World War II. In 1948, a new gas light inside a 500mm lantern was established on a hillock about 1km north from the coast. The present lighthouse was constructed on December 15, 1967.

Tour operator Srikant Mishra from Bhubaneswar is happy that the Centre has considered the renovation and development of the heritage lighthouse. “We often get tourists who want to take beach tourism very seriously and also explore the lighthouses, but there is no amenities for them. The project will help them to spend quality time there. The destinations will be helpful for the niche tourists,” he added.

Some of the major lighthouses included in the programme are the ones at Kanhoji Angre in Mumbai, Kanyakumari, Rameswaram, Mahabalipuram, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Aguado, Dwarka and Minicoy. Source: The Telegraph