A team of the District Administration led by Th Kirankumar, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Senapati; Krishna Kumar, IAS, SDO Tadubi and Puni Ronald, MCS, SDO Purul visited the Cosmos Plantation at Naamai Zho on Friday.
The officials along with their entourage were accorded with warmth and hospitability by the Koide Union-Village authority and its federating units.
A short interaction with the villagers took place on the spot itself. “The word “Naamai Zho” is a derivative of two popular words, “Naamai “meaning “Residents of Koide Village” and “Zho” meaning “A day of complete vigil”. It is believed that the present-day site was used by vigilantes of the leptons villages to safeguard their land from the intruders during the headhunting era”, said R S Solomon, President, Koide Union on queried for the nomenclature of the location.
“The present Cosmos plantation was started by the Zho Women Society in 2019. We have constructed a temporary shed house to shelter the picnic-goers in times of incessant rain. Every year, we have more than 3000 registered tourists. However, due to the current pandemic, the formal process of registration of visitors for the current year was discontinued.” Miss Thairu, a member of the Zho Women Society present at the gathering lamented
“The student unit of Naamai has been promoting green stewardship. It planted varied species of evergreen trees such as silver oak, Juniper, Golden Pine along the borders in 2018. However, due to wildfire and grazing animals, the said plantation was a failure. We have planted more than 1000 Bauhinia saplings during the pandemic. We hope the native cultivars would suit the climatic condition and afforest the present barren land in a span of 3 years. We will nurture them with great care” remarked Goldson, the President of Koide Youth and Student Organization.
When interviewed about their opinions and development needed at the site, Th Kirankumar, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Senapati opined, “Creation of a good ambience for outsiders, promotion of eco-tourism through the convergence of department and community participation is a must for sustainable tourism”. He said that participatory discussion amongst stakeholders for planning and policy intervention will begin this year.
Krishna Kumar IAS, SDO Tadubi while lauding the initiative urged the local residents to contribute towards assets and infrastructural development through locally available materials such as bamboo fencing, bamboo dustbin, bamboo huts, etc. “In order to attract the visitors, we have to advertise the place through social media, electronic media and print media so that people from outside of the state can know about this place and witness the beauty of the place”, he added.
Puni Ronald, MCS, SDO Tadubi also shared the dream envisioned by the district administration through the tourism department of a guest house with need-based ancillary units to attract the tourists. “With the program of initiating guests house, we are hopeful that this place will be a much better place for tourists in days to come”, he added.