Daringbadi: The coffee garden, a major tourist attraction of Daringbadi in Kandhamal district which has helped place the hill station on the tourist map of the country, is on the wane as severe irregularities plague the plantation amid lack of proper upkeep and development.
Hundreds of tourists visit Daringbadi daily to enjoy the scenic locales including the coffee garden. It produces coffee seeds as well as black pepper, one of the widely used spices in the country.
However, the plantation is fast losing its sheen due to lack of proper maintenance. The authorities have failed to keep a proper account of hundreds of quintals of coffee seeds cultivated in the garden. Much of the produce gets destroyed after falling on the ground in the absence of timely collection. The rest is smuggled outside for a premium. The wasteful management has made the middlemen richer due to smuggling.
Negligence and apathetic attitude of the Soil Conservation department, which is entrusted with the garden’s management, have cost the coffee garden a lot depriving the state government of precious revenue.
State-owned Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation of Odisha Ltd (TDCCOL) collected around 18 tonne of coffee seeds for the first time in 2022-23 FY which amounted to roughly around Rs63 lakh.
However, it stopped collecting coffee seeds from the next year. Hundreds of quintals of coffee seeds got destroyed after falling on the ground.
Meanwhile, theft has become a frequent occurrence in the coffee garden after the barbed fence itself was stolen leaving the garden in a vulnerable condition.
While the coffee garden was spread over 70 hectare of land earlier, it has shrunk to only 48 hectare due to theft and destruction of coffee plants by miscreants in frequent intervals.
District Collector Ashish Ishwar Patil planted coffee saplings on an additional five-hectare land to steer up the cultivation. However, the fresh plantation was destroyed within a year as its barbed fence was stolen due to lack of proper upkeep. Though the state government earns revenue from sale of coffee seeds and tickets to visitors, it is not doing enough towards the garden’s protection as no one is sincere towards its development.
Contacted, APD Ramakant Parida of Soil Conservation department, who was recently on a visit to the coffee garden, said the TDCCOL has been tasked with collection of coffee seeds under a contract.
When further asked how Daringbadi coffee is available in the market despite TDCCOL not selling it, he said it is not Daringbadi coffee but coffee produced elsewhere being marketed by miscreants with the brand name.
A roadside vendor selling coffee in front of the garden said he and other vendors purchase coffee seeds from the department at Rs600 per kg and sell it to interested customers at Rs1,000 per kg.
PNN