Two students call for Olive Ridleys protection through cycle expedition

Bhubaneswar: Dillip Kumar Biswal and Soumyaranjan Biswal are no ordinary college going students but have dedicated their life to conserve & preserve the natural heritage of Odisha.

Dressed up like Olive Ridleys, they started an expedition titled 'Cycle for Olly' from Konark on March 7 to visit the coastal districts of Odisha and spread awareness about protection of endangered Olive Ridley turtles.

The duo have already cycled over 250 kilometres while covering coastal areas of Puri, Chilika and Gopalpur. They also visited the nesting sites of the Olive Ridley turtles at Rushikulya rookery coast in Ganjam district. In the meantime, they interacted with people, school and college students to advocate for protection of the Olive Ridleys.

People from all sectors of society, including forest officials, have praised the efforts of sfudents and felicitated by various authorities including Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Berhampur Ashish Kumar Behera.

Dillip, a Plus III final-year arts student and Soumyaranjan, a Plus III final-year BCom student of Nimapara Autonomous College still have to go through Satakosia, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Siali and Paradip and end their journey at Gahirmatha beach, the largest mass nesting site for the Olive Ridleys in Kendrapara on March 14.