Bhubaneswar (NVI): The Chilika Development Authority (CDA) has constructed a museum near Barkul village, on the banks of famous Chilika lake in Odisha, to showcase the marine diversity of Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon.
According to an official release, this will be the Aisa’s largest Marine Diversity to attract many foreign tourists in the forthcoming days and will be opened very soon. The project has been constructed near Barkul of Chilika lake with 800 Sq Ft area.
The project has been executed under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) at an investment of around Rs 50 lakh.
Susanta Nanda, Chief Executive of CDA, said “Around 80 commercially important varieties of prawn, crab and fish will be shown as display on the said structured museum. At present, Chilika has 330 species of fish, 12 species of prawn which provides livelihood to around two lakh fishermen and account for nearly 20 per cent of seafood export of Odisha.”
Visitors will be charged a nominal entry fee of Rs 5 to be utilised for maintenance of the museum. The school and college students, however, will be given free entry for a quarter.
Apart from the museum, CDA has also proposed to Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) to set up a butterfly park at Maa Kalijai Island under NPCA project. The park has been planned in one hectare land in the island.
According to Susanta Nanda, the project will attract tourists from Asian countries too. “This has opened the door for common people to know more about Chilika and the museum also,” he added.
-CHK/ARK
