Hirakud To Become Gateway To Western Odisha

Hirakud To Become Gateway To Western Odisha

Tourism has been a top priority for the Government of Odisha for some time now. As part of the development of tourism in the State, Hirakud is going to become the gateway to Western Odisha and a tourism hub very soon. Over the past few years the Government of Odisha has launched and implemented various plans to promote the State’s untapped natural and cultural heritage. 

Last year just as the first wave of COVID 19 was fading away, the Tourism Department had launched the Odisha By Road campaign and the second edition of the EcoRetreat was a big hit at the end of the year. But the second wave of the pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt. Now the State government has put together big plans to boost tourism in Western Odisha and the first step towards this is Hirakud dam near Sambalpur. 

According to plans the longest earthen dam in the world and the areas surrounding it will be developed as a gateway to Western Odisha. Chairman of Western Odisha Development Council Asit Tripathi informed about the future plans for the ambitious project and said cruise boating will be introduced soon in the sparkling clean waters of the reservoir. Other projects like boating club, floating hotel, and waterfront hotels will also be developed to attract tourists.

The tourism project is estimated to cost Rs 130 crore and the Tourism and Forest departments as well as WODC will work together to bring it to fruition. The cruise boating facility is expected to start with two luxury boats sometime between December 2021 and February 2022. The WODC chairman toured Debrigarh Sanctuary and Bat Island in Hirakud on Wednesday and  said a water safari will  be launched in the sanctuary in a week’s time. The safari will be an attraction for tourists visiting the districts of Sambalpur and/ or Bargarh.

Tripathy was accompanied by Tourism secretary Vishal Dev who visited Sambalpur, Burla and Hirakud to explore the tourism potential of the Western Odisha region. He said that since Jharsuguda airport is operational now, it would be helpful in boosting tourism in the region 

He also visited the 1200-seater convention hall under construction at Gangadhar Meher University and inspected the area of Rani Bakhri and Victoria Memorial Hall. The hall will be developed into a museum through funding from the Tourism department. For the waterfront hotels at Hirakud, private stakeholders have been invited and discussions held with hotel owners as well as tour operators, he added. There are also plans to build an island resort in the vicinity of Jawaharlal Nehru park, Tripathi added.