Kendrapara: With the picnic season is on, most of the people prefer to go to Bhitarkanika National Park with friends and family. But their enthusiasm to enjoy the lush green mangrove cover and the flora and fauna of Bhitarkanika is dampened, thanks to the curbs in place now.
The entry of tourists to Bhitarkanika has been restricted from January 3 to 10 for a headcount of the estuarine crocodiles. So, the visitors are congregating either at Pentha sea beach or at Chhualia, one of the famous shrines under Rajnagar Assembly constituency, to enjoy the day with their friends and family members. However, they are unable to do so due to lack of minimum facilities near the Chhualia shrine. Several picnic groups are returning disappointed.
According to Swarup Jena, one of the members of Chhualia Development Committee, the Chhualia Pitha is located on the bank of Govari River in Lokanathpur. The whole place is surrounded by sahada trees. Other trees like kadamba, krushnachuda, panihenduli and peepal could also be found at Chhualia Pitha. Here, people worship shahada tree (Nature) as the presiding deity Maa Chhualia. The shahada tree is considered as Bana Durga.
The shahada tree is worshiped in the open sky. So, the picnickers come to see the unique Nature worship and feast on fish curry as it is the prime bhoga. Every day, nearly 20 to 30 picnic groups come to this place for feasting and worshipping the deity in the form of tree.
Ironically, despite the rush of visitors and worshippers, the area lacks basic facilities. Though there is a tube well, it is not sufficient to cater to the needs of the picnic groups. The road from the main road of Santasahi bridge-Gandakhia to the Chhualia Pitha has been in bad shape for several years. Even the bridge on the road has been lying in a dilapidated state. Tourists face a lot of problems reaching the shrine. It doesn’t have bhoga mandap and kitchen too. It also lacks toilet and urinal, said Bibhuti Bhusan Swain, who visited Chhualia on Sunday.
According to Priyambada Parida, who came with her friends to Chhualia, though it’s a good site for picnicking amid nature, women and girls faced lots of problems as there was no toilet and urinal facility for women.
When contacted, Bijay Kumar Mohanty, the District Tourist Officer, stated that he is going to give a proposal to the State Tourism Department, to construct a public convenience centre, develop the road and set up toilets and urinals for women tourists. PNN
