Tata Steel's Sukinda Mine Spread Awareness on Biodiversity

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to spread awareness about the need to preserve and protect biodiversity, Sukinda Chromite Mine (SCM) of Tata Steel organised a unique two-day festival involving students and others in Odisha's Jajpur district.

The programme, "JAIBAKALA VIVIDHATA", which aimed to sensitize the students and the community through art and painting, concluded yesterday.

Around 700 students from SCM campus and nearby areas like Ransaol, Chingudipal, Kaliapani, Dolapada and Birasal, participated in a competition held during the event on paintings of animals and birds from any one of the categories like Extinct, Contemporary and Species, a company release said.

Apart from the school students, some village youth and women from the locality also participated in the competition. There was also a mimicry competition on various sounds of animals and birds for the students.

B K Pattnaik, Chairman, State Expert Appraisal Committee, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Prasad Das, Sr. Scientist, Odisha State Bio-Diversity Board, Jayant Kumar Das, Sr Lecturer, B K College of Art and Crafts, Raj Kumar Singh, Chief, Procurement, Tata Steel, Mr. Rajesh Patel, Chief, Mining, SCM addressed the gathering during the concluding ceremony and gave away prizes to the winners.

Commending Tata Steel for the initiative, Pattnaik said such events would instill a feeling of love and belongingness towards nature and and the concept of biodiversity in the minds of school children.

Reinforcing Tata Steel's commitment towards environment while formally launching the programme on January 23, R R Satpathy, General Manager, Operations, Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division, Tata Steel said this is a part of a series of initiatives SCM is undertaking to create awareness on protection and preservation of biodiversity among the community particularly youngsters.

Noted artist Badal Pramanik and his team from Jamshedpur and Asis Saran, lecturer, B K College of Art and Crafts, Bhubaneswar and his team conducted workshop on sketch, drawing, clay making, art working on thermocol where over 700 students participated, it said.

As part of its commitment towards environment Tata Steel adopted a company-wide Biodiversity Policy in April 2016 which aims to achieve No Net Loss on biodiversity. For all its mines and collieries in Jharkhand and Odisha, it has developed Biodiversity Management Plans, it added.