The Science and Technology Department of the Orissa government has sought additional 15 acres of land to set up the state’s first Marine Biotechnology Park (MBP) in Ganjam district.
The Ganjam district administration had earlier handed over 23.5 acres at Gokharakuda, near the Rushikulya river mouth to the state-owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) for the purpose. Keeping in view the additional land requirement for the project, which will be set up in public private partnership (PPP) mode, the sub-collector (Chhatrapur), divisional forest officer (Berhampur) and the director, Science and Technology Department, state government, visited the site recently to identify more land near the project site.
‘We have identified a patch of government land adjoining to the acquired land. This will be acquired and alienated in favour of IDCO for the project soon”, said sub-collector (Chhatrapur) Trilochan Majhi.
Although the modalities of setting up of the proposed park is yet to be finalised, the officials said, it would be one of the tourist attractions in the state as it would have comprehensive data on the sea animals.Gokharakuda, about 40-km here and situated near the Rushikulya river mouth is already famous as the mass nesting ground of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles.
