State to revamp Chilika, Satkosia tourism hubs

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Bhubaneswar: The state government is continuing its work for development of tourism in the state despite Covid-19 pandemic.
The state government has decided to redevelop two important destinations—Chilika Lake and Satkosia – to attract domestic and foreign tourists to the sites in the post-Covid scenario, official sources said Saturday.
The Tourism department has decided to engage architecture and urban planning agency for preparation of integrated tourism development plans for the two sites. Once the plan is approved, the department will take steps to implement it, the source said.
As per the department’s plan, a comprehensive tourism master plan will be prepared for Rambha cluster and Satapada-Sipakuda cluster of Chilika Lake and the entire Satkosia area.
Though there are four clusters of Chilika Lake, two clusters namely Rambha and Satapada-Sipakuda will be developed in the first phase while Khallikote and Mangalajodi clusters will be taken up in later phase.
Chilika Lake is the largest brackish water lake in Asia and is a great attraction for tourists for activities like fishing, bird watching ad boating. The lake has immense potential for development of ecotourism. The sites within Chilika Lake are not yet developed to their full potential and remained untapped in attracting enough tourists, the sources said.
In Rambha cluster, the government has planned to execute integrated development of islands, development of Somolo Island as tourism node, eco-friendly hospitality units (hotels/resorts) and water based & island-based tourism infrastructure. It will also have accommodation zone, water sports zone and recreation zone.
In the Satapada-Sipakuda cluster, the hospitality hub will be redeveloped while it was also planned for day cruise operations and establishment of an iconic tower and marine park in the area.
Similarly, the department has planned to develop the Satkosia region as tourist hub with all required facilities, services and amenities. Budget and luxury hotels will be set up in the region while efforts will be made for operation of houseboats and cruise services.
Basic infrastructure like development of entrance points, access roads, toilets, food outlets, shops, etc will be taken up. There is also a plan for development of waterways connecting both northern and southern sides of the wildlife sanctuary, they said.
The master plans will be chalked out considering all existing laws, rules and regulation in force in the green zones, the source added.