Boat precaution a priority for Sankranti at Chilika

BERHAMPUR: On Saturday morning, the sleepy picturesque island of Kalijai on Chilika lake, about 70 kilometres from here, came alive with the buzz of devotees thronging the temple of the goddess Kalijai on the occassion of Makar Sankranti.
Devotees from far off places of the state and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh thronged the island temple to have a glimpse of the Goddess, the presiding deity of the fishermen and to take a holy dip in the lake.
Early in the morning of the day, fishermen in and around the lake offered prayers to the Maa Kalijai in a time-honoured traditional manner. Before the Sankranti, the fishermen belonging to surrounding villages of the lake had performed a Shakti Mahayagna.
The day was also one of great business for the boatmen of the area as they usually extra money to ferry the devotees. Hundreds of boats have seen anchored at Rambha, Balugaon, Kespur and Barkula to ferry thousands of visitors to the temple.
"We have engaged around 100 boats to carry the devotees to the Kalijai temple from Balugaon," said Krushna Chandra Behera, secretary of the Kalijai Motor Boat Association, Balugaon. Similarly over 150 boats were employed at Barakula to take the devotees.
"Besides the private boats, the inland water transport (IWT), Balugaon has also diverted one of its boat to Kalijai," said PK Das, deputy director of the IWT. Boatmen have been expressly asked to take adequate safety measures while transporting visitors on their boats, added Das.
Safety measures in boats while ferrying the passengers assumed significance this time as four persons, including two children, were killed on December 10, when a boat on which they were travelling capsized in the lake near Sabuliya in Ganjam district. The authorities had not been able to provide life-jackets to the huge number of passengers.
Police have also made special arrangements on the occasion. Besides deployment of heavy police forces, they also reserved a rescue boat to carry the passengers at the time of any eventuality, a source said.
Patrolling was also intensified in the lake, particularly in Nalabana, the bird sanctuary area, to prevent bird poaching during the festival.
"Wildlife personnel kept strict vigil as there were several people in the lake during the festival," said divisional forest officer, Chilika wildlife division, Bikash Ranjan Das.