A comprehensive Bill on Chilika soon

Bhubaneswar, July 14 (UNI) Orissa government will soon prepare a comprehensive bill for better control and management of the Chilika lake.

The government took the decision on the recommendations of Justice P K Tripathy Commission of inquiry on police firing in Soran village in Khurda district on the intervening night of June 29 and 30, 2005.

The Action Taken Report (ATR), laid in the House yesterday, said the Revenue and Disaster Management Department in consultation with Forest and Environment and Fisheries and Animal Resource Development Department was taking steps for the finalisation of the Chilika (Regulations) Bill, 2005.

The proposed Bill has a provision to keep Chilika under the administrative control of the Chilika Development Authority to ensure better control, management, eviction of encroachment and prevention of damage to the ecology.

Pending enactment of new legislations, the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Central Division) had been requested to conduct at least three drives in a year for removal and destruction of illegal gheries.

Decisions had also been taken to amend the Orissa Maritime Fisheries Regulation Act to insert imprisonment provision in the proposed Act. The imprisonment provision would be inserted only after it was approved by the Law department and the Cabinet, the ATR said.

The existing guidelines, issued by the Revenue department for the regulation of fishery in Chilika, would be revised till the proposed Chilika Regulation Bill is adopted, the ATR said.

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