-Down to Earth Ganjam, known to be severely affected by child marriages, is Odisha’s first district to be declared child marriage free Odisha’s Ganjam district was declared child marriage-free January 3, 2022, district collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said. “We decided to declare the district free of child marriage after collecting detailed information about all weddings that took place in 2020 and 2021,” Kulange said at an event organised at the district headquarters. The district...

-Down to Earth Most of the victims were targeted for “causing health issues or crop failure” Witch-hunts are still highly prevalent in 12 of Odisha’s 30 districts — especially Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Malkangiri, Gajapati and Ganjam — a new report has claimed. Most victims of such superstitious practices were targeted for “causing health issues or crop failure”. Around 27 per cent cases were triggered by health issues in children, 43.5 per cent by...

-Down to Earth The children, mostly girls, were rescued from a railway station  Child trafficking has seen a spurt in Odisha — especially in tribal-dominated districts of the state — following the resumption of train services amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.  At least 20 adolescents, mostly girls (18) aged 15-17, have been rescued by activists from non-profit Childline Foundation of India (CFI), from Berhampur railway station in Ganjam district from July...

-Down to Earth The construction of the proposed plant will also violate Coastal Regulation Zone norms Wildlife activists have expressed apprehension over the construction a sewage treatment plant at Palibandh, near the Rushikulya river estuary in Odisha’s Ganjam district, the site of India’s second-largest rookery of Olive Ridley turtles. The plant, if constructed, will spell doom for the turtles, the activists have warned. Every year, millions of Olive Ridleys gather on a five-km-long...

-Down to Earth Child marriages surged after COVID-19 first wave; streamlined state efforts helped arrest the trend, claim officials As many as 3,970 villages in Odisha were declared child marriage-free between January and the first week of July 2021. The development has coincided with second wave of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic; the state had registered a surge in child marriages during the first wave. In 2020, only 62 villages were declared...