Majestic Mahanadi’s Spectacular Satkosia

Mahanadi Beckons

A few days ago, Mahanadi, the Great River and the Ganga of Eastern India appeared in my dream and whispered: How are you, my son? Haven’t seen you in a while.

Does she miss me as much as I miss her, I wondered? I am connected to Mahanadi with an umbilical cord, as it were. Hirakud Dam Project, Independent India’s first multi-purpose river dam project, had been completed a year before my birth, and irrigation commenced three years later, transforming the economy of my village and western Odisha; and of coastal Odisha by saving it from the scourge of recurrent devastating floods. If I reckon the number of hours I have swam in Mahanadi waters in the small canal at my village, Bargarh Main Canal and Burla Power Channel; it would add up to a few years of my life. My father was employed in HDP, and I spent most of my formative years in the irrigation colonies. In a way, I am nurtured by Mahanadi.

How could I not answer the call from my foster mother? During our recent trip to Odisha, how rejuvenating it was to spend a whole night literally on her welcoming lap.

Satkosia Gorge

After crossing Chhattisgarh and western Odisha, Mahanadi has carved a deep gorge between Tikarpada and Badmul. It is a unique gorge, being the meeting point of two bio-geographic regions of India - the Deccan Peninsula and the Eastern Ghat. Satkosia literally means seven koshas (14 miles or 24 kms) and refers to the length of the gorge with towering mountains of the Eastern Ghats standing like sentinels on both flanks. It is an area rich in bio-diversity both faunal and floral. Satkosia is a crocodile sanctuary, and has also been notified as a Ramsar Site, a Wetland of International Significance.

(Photo Source: Govt. of Odisha)#

                                (Photo Source: satkosia.org)

The Reserve has about 95 elephants, but no tigers. NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) reports that during the last few decades tigers had been ‘extirpated’ from several Reserves in the country including Satkosia Tiger Reserve. Under a translocation project, two adult tigers from Kanha, Madhya Pradesh had been brought here. Unfortunately, one had died and the other had to be withdrawn following concern raised about non-compliance of SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in NTCA’s Report. The Project was suspended in 2019. The gorge sanctuary has 111 crocodiles (97 muggers and 14 gharials). Luckily, we had no nocturnal visitors, and slept very well in the soothing silence of the sanctuary.

Cruise

Soon after we commenced our cruise, the boat driver pointed at a site on the east bank: That is the ghat where the elephants come to drink water or to take a swim when in the mood. The vegetation had been crushed, the soil pulverised and huge foot-marks were visible.

We saw several crocodiles sunning on rocks, and a few birds, but no big animal. The hills are steep, the forest dense, and hence, not amenable to sighting of animals. Also, the noisy motor boats send them for cover. But the awe-inspiring majesty and enchanting beauty of the gorge is a treat for nature-lovers.

Satkosia Sands Resort

Traditional Welcome

Upon checking in at Satkosia Sands Resort, Revati applied sindur on our forehead, sprinkled rice and flower petals and welcomed us with the traditional ululation, an auspicious musical greeting sans any instrument. Then she moved our luggage with a trolley up to the river bank, and on head-load to the tent on the sands. Later, I noted that she was also served in the dining hall. Amazingly dexterous, multi-tasking Revati with a sweet smile – Receptionist, Bell-Woman, Porter, and Server at the Restaurant!

Adventure Tourism

We had a great stay in a non-AC tent on Mahanadi’s sprawling sand bar at Badmul, 127 kms from Bhubaneswar. Temperature was pleasant during the day, but dipped after sunset, and was rather chilly in the evening. A bon-fire had been lit.

After dinner, Sanjukta went into the tent while I sat beside the dwindling fire in the pristine forest far away from the city smog to savour the night sky and spot the major constellations. While star-gazing, I spotted a cat much unlike the common domestic cat sneak into our tent, and rushed in to shoo it away but couldn’t find it.

It was 10 PM, and the Manager and his assistants had retired for the night. We could not have slept with a jungle cat in our tent, so I called the Manager who sent in the night-watchman-cum-helper who peered under the bed and said, ‘No cat.’ Since he was reeking of alcohol, I asked him to look again. Hurt at my distrust, he declared, ‘No cat. Come, look for yourself.’ I guess he went back to report to the Manager, ‘No cat. Only a drunk guest!’

After he left, I checked under the bed to satisfy myself. No cat, indeed. It had vanished as quickly as it had materialised. As I tucked under the blanket, spouse was still checking her phone for messages, and asked, ‘What if a tiger came at night? Or an elephant?’

In the morning, she had heard my conversation with the Forest Guard at the check-gate. Satgokia Gorge is a Sanctuary for crocodiles, Satkosia Tiger Reserve for tigers, and Mahanadi Elephant Reserve for the pachyderms. The Gorge is part of the Tiger Reserve which is part of the Elephant Reserve; with an area of about 1137 sq. kms. Our tent, pitched on the Sand Bar on the river bed, was in the middle of croc-tiger-elephant sanctuaries. Our first adventure tourism in the wilderness!

‘I guess wild animals would stay away from dangerous, strange animals creating a din so close to midnight,’ I said.

Three adjacent tents had guests from Kolkata who were celebrating a family reunion and had assembled at the neighbouring tent after dinner for boisterous conversation and vigorous debate. The thin tent wall could no way save us from their eloquent and divergent views on politics, films, food, and the right way to raise children. There was a little girl of about three in their group, who was hopefully asleep unmindful of the cacophony.

Spouse did not appreciate my attempt at humour, so I said to comfort her: The tents are girdled by a wire-link fence.

Spouse: Do you think a 3-feet tall flimsy fence is a hindrance for a tiger or an elephant?

I knew it wasn’t. In that case, I said, the visiting party would decide what to do with us.

I had read a news report of a hungry tusker who had raided a village not very far from here a few days ago, had broken the mud-wall of a hut to eat what paddy and rice it could get, and had killed two women as they tried to run away; but refrained from sharing it with spouse since it may not be conducive to pleasant sleep.

Next morning, before breakfast, the Manager took us for a round of the AC tents on the hill. Why steel roof, I asked? That would heat up the tents fast and would need much cooling. Maybe, a thatched roof from paddy straw or local grass would have been more functional and aesthetically appealing, I suggested.

Manager: Steel is better since rats and snakes love the thatched roof!

This is an excellent habitat for the Indian python which loves mountainous terrain with access to plentiful water. It is a strong swimmer and can hunt prey under water.

Community Management

How long have you been working here, I asked Prakash, the Manager? How many people manage this Resort? What’s the monthly remuneration?

Prakash was happy to chat with me. He is from Badmul and had worked for a few years as an unskilled worker at Hyundai factory in Chennai, and thereafter, a few years in restaurants in the city. Upon invitation from a village elder he had returned to his village to manage the Resort with community participation.

“I am here since the last nine years and I am assisted by 15 workers, all from the village, and most of them women. Everything - pitching the tents, laying the water-supply line and electricity cabling, housekeeping, stores, purchases, cooking, laundry, and security is managed by us.

Every year before the start of the season we make an estimate of the costs and execute the work. Sometimes, to provide better quality of infrastructure and services, we overshoot the estimates for which we must take a cut on our earning. Hopefully, better footfall and turnover would generate a decent income for us.

No monthly salary, not even for me. We get 35% of our total turnover as wages, 25% for the catering and consumables, and another 10% as incentive. Each of us gets an equitable share. I get no more than the cook or the sweeper.”

The villagers who run this resort earn 10000-15000 a month during the peak winter season. But that is no small income in a remote village in the middle of a Tiger Reserve.

Visitors’ Menace

The Forest Dept had put up signages at several places regarding Code of Conduct for visitors. Sadly, there were piles of plastic waste at several places on the river bank. During our cruise, we had spotted plastic bags and bottles floating in the gorge, too.

I asked the Manager about it. ‘We take care of the waste disposal for the Resort, but the picnickers are incorrigible and leave behind dumps of plastic waste. My staff and volunteers from the village pick up and dispose off the waste, but we can do it only once a fortnight or so. What to do if people are so callous?’

How about the guests? Do they respect the forest and the wild-life?

“Recently, there was a group of about eight persons from a city who came here to celebrate a birthday. They had much revelry with lots of booze and played very loud music at midnight. When other guest complained, I requested them to stop the music, which they did but most reluctantly. This is a forest, and wild animals are much bothered by loud noise at night. Educated folks from the cities should understand this.”

Eco Tourism and Concerns

MOEF has issued comprehensive Guidelines for Eco Tourism in 2021 which provide Codes of Conduct and ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ for all stakeholders including visitors and tourists. However, the compliance standards are a cause for concern.

Maybe, revised guidelines should provide that each visitor/tourist would be permitted entry to the protected area only after submitting a Declaration (something like the Declaration at self-check-in to board a flight) along the following lines:

·      I understand that I do NOT own Planet Earth, and co-share it with other fauna and flora. I respect their rights and freedoms as much as I do my own.

·      I do not possess any firearms or dangerous goods.

·      I harbour no evil intent for wild life, and swear on oath NOT to kill, eat, or otherwise harm or hurt them.

·      I shall abide by the Guidelines and the Code of Conduct.

·      I am a guest in their home, and I will be respectful of their ways and manners. Particularly, I will not play loud music or use flash-light to capture their photo.

Signages may also be put up FOR Wild Animals in Sanctuaries and Reserves:

‘BEWARE! Dangerous Animals on Prowl.’

‘Approach them at Your Own Peril. Extinction Guaranteed.’

‘Go into hiding. Accept No Food from them. Their Charity is Motivated.’

Some readers may object that animals can not read to which the counter-argument is that most visitors/tourists can but don’t read, or read but don’t give a damn.

Extinction of Fauna and Flora

Since the beginning of life on Earth, it is estimated that 99.9% species have gone extinct. While the five mass extinctions were owing to a variety of factors - asteroid strike, climate change, disease, failure of a species in evolutionary competition, etc; the recent extinctions are related to loss of habitat, a consequence of insatiable human greed for land and resources, and of environmental degradation and pollution.

Sharing a Statista Chart highlighting the enormity of the extinction.

 

 

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# Note on Photo

I had used a photo from satkosia.org. An alert reader asked if the photo was digitally enhanced. Upon checking, I found that the original photo, used in Odisha govt's Facebook page, shows Mahanadi in monsoon months, and the water colour is muddy. Someone did not like that colour and changed it to a gaudy electric blue. I deleted the edited photo, and put up the original.

Before Hirakud Dam upstream, Mahanadi was a mighty river, and awe-inspiring especially in flood.