By Our Correspondent
RAJNAGAR/KENDRAPARA: The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Rajnagar Mangrove (Wildlife) Forest Division, in Odisha’s coastal districts of Kendrapara, Bikash Ranjan Dash has said that the inaugural edition of the 3-days long Bhitarkanika Festival to showcase the rich biodiversities, flora and fauna of the internationally acclaimed Ramsar wetland site in Odisha will begin from Friday.
The Festival is being hosted by jointly the Forest and Tourism department. Nalitapatia village, lying on the fringes of the core area of the national park, will play host to the festival.
The objective festival is to provide the much-needed exposure to the national park so that there will be a substantial increase of tourists, both international and domestic, he said.
With increased inflow of tourists, the tourism potential of the place will be explored and people living along the villages on the periphery of the national park will reap economic benefits out of it, the DFO said.
Bhitarkanika is one of the best natural abodes for estuarine crocodiles and is said to house 70 per cent of India’s estuarine crocodile or saltwater crocodiles, conservation of which was started way back in 1975.
