Symposium, photo exhibition on Odisha’s Chilika for UNESCO World Heritage tag

New Delhi: In a bid to obtain UNESCO heritage status for Asia’s largest brackish water lake in Odisha, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is organizing a symposium and photo-exhibition in association with The Bhubaneswar Bird Walks (TBBW) here tomorrow.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship will inaugurate the event titled The Mangalajodi Inheritance.

The objective of this symposium is to bring together experts and enthusiasts from the fields of conservation, ecotourism, ornithology, diplomatic corps, media, NGO’s, officials from various ministries of Govt. of India, and other related fields, in order to chart out a future course of action for the preservation and development of this rich wetland heritage of Odisha.

The Bhubaneswar Bird Walks is an NGO committed to documentation and conservation of avifauna in Odisha. Founder of TBBW, Panchami Manoo Ukil has been a part of the facilitation process of ONGC’s CSR work in Mangalajodi.

Eminent environment conservationists, diplomats from various countries, UN officials, Ministry officials, ONGC top management including CMD ONGC Shashi Shanker and Director (HR), ONGC as well as various NGOs working in the field of environment protection will grace the occasion.

Ornithologist, author, publisher and wildlife conservationist Bikram Grewal, Project Director, ICZMP and former Chilika Development Authority CEO Dr Ajit Pattnaik, commentator, writer and environmentalist Neha Sinha will also be in attendance at Silver Oak, Indian Habitat Centre.

The event will be inaugurated at 11 am.

Notably, ONGC has embarked on an ambitious project for conservation and holistic development of Chilika Lake area in Odisha, and for accordance of status of UNESCO World Heritage Site for Chilika Lake, in line with its commitment towards environment conservation and heritage protection. Pradhan has taken the initiative to reach a tripartite agreement between ONGC, Odisha government and UNESCO. UNESCO has assured all support towards this objective and has also charted out a systematic plan for development of Mangalajodi village in Chilika through CSR activities.