Geography

location

Orissa, located in the eastern coast of India is a state with immense potential in natural resources. It is located between 17.49'N and 22.34'N latitudes and between 81.27'E and 87.29'E longitudes. The state is touched by the Bay of Bengal on the east; Madhya Pradesh on the west and Andhra Pradesh on the south. It has a coast line of about 500 kms. It spreads over an area of 155,707 square kms.
Orissa, owing to its proximity towards the sea experience a typical tropical climate which is characterized by very hot climate during summer and maximum rainfall during monsoon season. The winter season is ideal for visitors and tourists.

Climate

There are three main seasons experienced in Orissa – summer, monsoon and winter. The summer season starts from March to June, Rainy season from July to September and winter season from October to February. However, locally there are six seasons: Grishma, Varsha, Sharata, Hemanta, Sisira, Vasanta. Every season has its own charm.

Rainy season starts from mid June and lasts till October. Monsoon rains have very much importance for crop production. But excessive rains create flood and damage crops and houses. The coastal areas of the state experience cyclone and tornado during monsoon season. The cyclonic storms originate in the Bay of Bengal often cross the east coast between Paradeep and Chandbali.

Connectivity

Orissa can be visited round the year. However, the best season is the winter from September to March. Tourists visiting to Orissa are advised to bring light weight cotton clothing which is ideal for hot and humid summer as well as rainy seasons. Where as Warm clothings like jackets, sweaters and coats can take care of the warm winters.
By Air: Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Orissa is well connected by regular flights from several destinations in India. Biju Patnaik Airport is the only major facility in Orissa. Indian Airlines, Sahara Airlines and Jet Airways have flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam to Bhubaneswar. The new terminal has good facility and pre-paid taxi service has also been introduced. It takes 1hr and 55 minutes from Delhi to reach Bhubaneswar by air.

By Rail: Bhubaneswar is the head quarter of East Coast Railway. I t is also an important station on the Kolkata-Chennai railway line. There are convenient rail links to Bhubaneswar from Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Guwahati etc. All express and super-fast trains take a halt at Bhubaneswar station. There are many trains available for Puri and pass through Bhubaneswar station. For railway reservation,

By Road: The general condition of roads in Orissa is good. The national highway 5 passes through Bhubaneswar. The four lane express highway has recently been developed. One can easily reach Cuttack, Konark, Puri, Balasore and Berhampur by bus or taxi. Long distant bus service is available from Kolkata to Balasore and Baripada.

The main bus stand in Bhubaneswar is Baramunda Bus Stand. Here one can find buses for almost all parts of the state.
Bus Stand Enquiry: 2750769, 2400540


Road distance of some important places from Bhubaneswar
City Distance in Km City Distance in Km City Distance in Km
Agartala 2179 Gurgaon 1738 Panaji 1746
Agra 1542 Guwahati 1483 Paradwip 124
Ahmedabad 1810 Gwalior 1373 Pathankot 2213
Aizawl 2046 Haldia 425 Patna 845
Ajmer 1820 Hassan 1627 Pondicherry 1400
Akola 1090 Hissar 1896 Porbandar 2204
Aligarh 1625 Hubli 1493 Pune 1318
Allahabad 1090 Hyderabad 1075 Purulia 467
Ambala 1948 Imphal 1967 Raipur 562
Amritsar 2203 Indore 1280 Rajkot 2026
Asansol 573 Jabalpur 896 Rameswaram 1827
Aurangabad 1104 Jaipur 1791 Ranchi 556
Bangalore 1440 Jaisalmer 2214 Ranippettai 1347
Barauni 897 Jalandhar 2101 Raurkela 334
Barddhaman 488 Jammu 2320 Rohtak 1806
Bareilly 1571 Jamnagar 2112 Sagar 1078
Belgaum 1587 Jamshedpur 394 Saharanpur 1875
Bellary 1283 Jhansi 1276 Salem 1561
Bhagalpur 801 Jodhpur 1935 Sambalpur 300
Bhaktiyarpur 786 Jorhat 1786 Shahjahanpur 1433
Bhavnagar 1997 Kakinada 587 Shillong 1583
Bhopal 1192 Kandla 2175 Shimla 2099
Bikaner 2053 Kanniyakumari 1918 Shivpuri 1377
Bilaspur 566 Kanpur 1290 Silchar 1809
Calcutta 441 Kochi 1919 Siliguri 1008
Chandigarh 1982 Kohima 1822 Solapur 1380
Chennai 1235 Kolhapur 1614 Srinagar 2632
Chittardurga 1411 Kota 1534 Surat 1467
Coimbatore 1726 Kozhikode 1795 Thane 1464
Cuttack 25 Krishnagiri 1497 Thanjavur 1577
DehraDun 1923 Kurnool 1126 Thiruvananthapuram 1943
Delhi 1745 Lucknow 1265 Thrissur 1840
Dhanbad 550 Ludhiana 2042 Tiruchchirappalli 1551
Dhule 1247 Madurai 1679 Tirunelveli 1833
Dibrugarh 1922 Mangalore 1787 Tirupati 1193
Dimapur 1757 Meerut 1746 Tuticorin 1814
Dindigul 1630 Moradabad 1624 Udaipur 1914
Durgapur 613 Motihari 1084 Ujjain 1335
Ganganagar 2046 Mumbai 1507 Ulhasnagar 1462
Gangtok 1122 Muzaffarnagar 1741 Vadodara 1586
Gaya 774 Muzaffarpur 1000 Varanasi 965
Ghaziabad 1737 Mysore 1579 Vijayawada 807
Ghazipur 961 Nagpur 840 Vishakhapatnam 425
Gorakhpur 1101 Nanded 1262 Warangal 935
Gulbarga 1288 Nashik 1322
Guntur 839 Nellore 1063


Natural resource

Orissa is endowed with plenty of natural resources including forests, rivers and minerals.


Rivers

There are four groups of rivers flowing through Orissa into the Bay of Bengal. These are:
i. Rivers having source outside the state – the Subarnarekha, the Brahmani and the Mahanadi
ii. Rivers having source inside the state – the Budhabalanga, the Baitarini, the Salandi, and the Rushikulya
iii. Rivers having source inside the state but flow through other states – Bahudu, the Vansadhara, and the Nagavali
iv. Rivers having a source inside Orissa, but tributary to rivers which flow through other states – the Machkund, the Sileru, the Kolab, and the Indravati.
Apart from these important rivers, there are so many small rivers flowing through the state. The two lakes i.e. Chilka and Ansupa and several waterfalls are sources of attractions for numerous visitors.


Wildlife

Orissa covers a total forest area of 58,136.23 Sq. Kms. These un-spoilt natural landscapes offer natural habitat to the state’s incredible wildlife. There are many wildlife sanctuaries in Orissa. The Similipal Tiger Reserve is a vast expanse of lush green forest with waterfalls, inhabited by tigers, elephants, and other wildlife. The Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary has been protecting estuarine crocodiles since 1975.


Minerals

The State of Orissa is endowed with vast mineral deposits like coal, iron-ore, manganese-ore, bauxite, chromites, etc. According to All India Mineral Resources Estimates, the mineral deposits of Orissa in respect of chromites, nickel, cobalt, bauxite, and iron-ore were about 98.4%, 95.1%, 77.5%, 52.7% and 33.4% respectively of the total deposits of India. The total deposit of minerals is given below.

Mineral Reserves in Orissa (in million tonne)
• Bauxite 1733
• Base Metal 9
• Chromite 183
• Chinaclay 311
• Coal 49406
• Dolomite 889
• Fireclay 178
• Graphite 2.2
• Iron ore 4200
• Kyanite & Sillimanite 1.4
• Limestone 1609
• Manganese ore 119
• Mineral sands 82
• Pyrophyllite 8.6
• Nickel ore 270
• Quartz & Quartzite 93
• Tale / Steatite 0.8
• Tin ore 0.01
• Vanadiferrous