Tourism Without A Mirror!

DN Singh

If we talk about the tourism potential of Orissa, it is often said that it is `too vast and too diverse` to be summarised into any article in a magazine or a newspaper. True. Be it the wonderful wildlife or the vast coastline interspersed with breathtaking sites or the temples or the beautiful hills hiding myriad unexplored treasure troves that could even make the stones sigh. Imagine the serene ghats where the dawns get saturated by the morning dew or an early drizzle maturing to full-fledged downpour, turning the landscape of Koraput into picture postcards. And the evenings in the hills paint a collage, like a dreamer`s eyelashes. It all sounds like a world in itself and imagine a journey into these paradise during the right seasons which can always add a new facet to a visitor’s visual repertoire. But the question here is: what do we do to exploit these potentials? The answer is `nothing`. The Flip Side But the babudom in Orissa, that usually rides roughshod over the political minions, was shown the mirror the other day by Union Minister of Tourism Kumari Sailaja. When the minister listed out the failures in the implementation of eight tourism projects funded by the Centre, the truth perturbed all. The officials present at the meeting made a dog`s breakfast of the first ever encounter with the Union minister. Kumari Sailaja was unsparing in her criticism of the failures in the implementation of centrally funded tourism projects in the state. Defeat needs no proclamation and that was evident from the faces of all those present at the meeting. The state`s Tourism Minister, Debi Prasad Mishra, who has a penchant for downplaying failures through verbosity, was seen enduring the discomfort of the straight-talks of the Union minister with a pained perplexity on his face. Sailaja was very unhappy and minced no words to make her intentions clear that the Centre was left with no other option than to take back the funds earmarked for some eight major tourism projects in Orissa. Significantly, the huge funds were sanctioned for rural tourism about five years back (2004-05). And on scrutiny the minister found that the six major rural tourism projects just did not take off and the remaining two projects are not even mid-way five years after they were launched. The minister or the bureaucrats, who are in the usual habit of vanquishing the `bad guys` (read media) on such issues when their faculty is questioned, were bereft of that triumphant face while the Union minister virtually pilloried them for the inactions. With eight major projects continuing to remain non-starters after five years, it is a call for self-scrutiny. Ironically, at many places of wildlife, coastal or ethnic importance, the state witnesses a peculiar facet of second-fiddle approach and the successive state tourism ministers somehow get away with the colossal mismanagements of the sector. And the opposition has always been found limiting itself to the tamasha of a few shoutings in the Assembly. For instance, the two earlier centrally shared hotel projects (ITDC) in the state, the Kalinga Ashok in the state capital and the Neelachal Ashok in Puri, are the mute testimonies of monumental failures. The decay of these two projects started five years ago and today, both the units standing on vast areas in the respective cities’ prominent places, have virtually become haunted houses. Rosy Side If one goes by the reality all the Panthanivas run by the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) are in absolute demand given their locations, and do good business. Surprisingly, during 2004-05 the then tourism minister of Orissa was suffering from a contrived sense of urgency to privatise many of the profit-making Panthanivas. One need not go far to find as to what could be the impelling force behind the ministry`s sudden temptation for such a step. Somehow, it was kept on hold and during 2006-07, all the Panthanivas in Orissa got a real face-lift through a central sanction and now they seem braced up to match good hotels around. Even at Rs 1,500 for good rooms per day the rush is encouraging. But, the show has to go on! The fantastic placement of either the OTDC bungalow at Barkul or Rambha, where a visitor can flap his feet in the waters of Bay of Bengal or the one at Dhenkanal couched in the lap of hills, or the one at Sambalpur or Keonjhar located in the niche of hillocks; they offer a delightful stay for the passers-by to steal a night of bliss. Imagine the magic of Daringbadi, in Kandhamal, once considered to be the Kashmir of Orissa, which, in fact, had all that a tourist looks for. But, the place suffers from the gradual decay due to the unplanned spread of houses and markets, and the phase-wise razing of the green cover is also visible. The extent to which complacency and monopoly have overwhelmed the state Tourism Ministry – may be after the third consecutive victory – can be gauged from the fact that it has opened bars in eight Panthaniwas and that too within the building premises with an intention to boost revenue. “Right, but at what cost?” is a poser the Tourism Minister has no answer to. "We were opposed to the idea of opening bars inside the building," confided a top brass from the department. Even this author was witness to a few phases of hooliganism let loose by such facilities where any outside tourist or a family would find the atmosphere too hostile for a stay in any OTDC bungalows. Now the paragon of nature`s beauty, the Chilika Lake, country`s largest brackish water lagoon, dotted with emerald green islands and hills inside, a home to a rich variety of aquatic flora and fauna and a natural aquarium for about 160 variety of fish flourishing in the estuarine water body, is haunted by the ghost of commercial interests. The `Pink Rush` is the demon in disguise, which means illegal prawn farming is going on right under the nose of the government but there is no let up in this million-dollar nightmare, which has threatened the ecology, economy and tourism as well. When we take a close look at the many other natural wonders like waterfalls and springs in Keonjhar, Koraput, Ganjam, Nuapada, Sundergarh and Dhenkanal districts, we find the promotional endeavours of such lovely spots are pitiful. Even the concerned minister is hardly seen evaluating the work execution at the bottom level barring a few close door meetings in Bhubaneswar and then preening for the video cameras with an overdose of euphoria. Tourism should not be a talking shop, and the non-performing officials or ministers still somehow go unscathed. The fact is, there is no seriousness about employing any methodology to upgrade the conditions of the spots and the problem doubles when the money earmarked for such purposes falls into the pitfalls of unaccountability. Kumari Sailaja`s observations provided an occasion to state tourism officials to introspect but the department should not carry on with its tricks of ducking the hard questions within and instead should use a mirror itself.