SISTERHOOD OF SUSTAINABILITY

Modern-day princesses Mrinalika and Akshita Bhanjdeo are setting new standards in sustainable tourism with their regal homestay, The Belgadia Palace.

Mrinalika and Akshita Bhanjdeo are millennial princesses, so it’s rather apt that they are champions of the defining cause of this generation: sustainability. The second and third daughters, respectively, of the 47th ruler of the Bhanja dynasty, Maharaja Praveen Chandra Bhanjdeo, Mrinalika and Akshita have been instrumental in turning their ancestral home in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, into a living museum and luxury homestay.

The Belgadia Palace (thebelgadiapalace.com) is an 18th-century Victorian-style palace that sits on a hill in Baripada, an obscure town in Mayurbhanj. The sisters began renovating the structure in 2015 and opened its doors to guests in 2019. “The idea was to run The Belgadia Palace as a startup where tourism offers employment to the local community and small enterprises get funding from travellers, who participate in artist residency programmes and invest in sustainable infrastructure,” they explain.

Sustainability practices range from simple steps such as the use of sabai grass, bamboo, and terracotta decor in the house, to bigger projects like waste segregation, composting, nutrition farming, and hiring and training youth from the local community.

Akshita is also the creative director of Karkhana Chronicles (karkhanachronicles.in), an initiative that aims to highlight the work of local artisans. “The immediate vision was to provide different artisan clusters across India a livelihood through commissioned pieces and installations at iconic properties,” she explains. Mrinalika and Akshita have many milestones to be delighted about: from hosting 1,000 guests in two years to organising 100 Mayurbhanj chhau dance performances to distributing 300 ration kits to families affected by COVID-19. But the feat they are most proud of is being part of the Save Simlipal Campaign. “The recent forest fire that impacted Mayurbhanj brought to light the lack of political framework and community awareness on how to build and scale climate resilience,” the duo laments. “I was able to mobilise media and local civil society to advocate for research into the cause of forest fires. This has sparked in me an interest in using my skills to have the environment and communities around me thrive and not just survive,” adds Akshita. This thought summarises the spirit of the royal sisters as well as the ethos of The Belgadia Palace.

“Tourism can offer communities a chance to rewrite their narrative in the national mainstream. The success of Belgadia is tied to the growth of Mayurbhanj. We rise only when our community grows holistically.”

What happens when two best friends—one, a die-hard Goan, and the other, a Finland-based marketing strategist with a penchant for sustainable tourism and clean technology—marry their passions? BLive (store.blive. co.in), India’s first e-bike tourism initiative offering curated tours on smart electric bikes.

Launched in Goa in November 2018, BLive’s first tour was to the scenic Divar Island. While Finlandbased Mukherjee came with immense exposure to the EV (electric-vehicle) ecosystem, Kholkar, originally from Goa, had a strong understanding of tourism. Soon after the launch, the duo bagged the coveted title of Goa’s official EV Tourism partners.

Since then, BLive has taken its patrons on offbeat trails in Coorg, Puducherry, Jaipur, Kanha National Park, and Mashobra, among other places. “We have conducted over 15,000 tours in the last two years,” says Mukherjee. “Each tour is curated in a way that e-bikes can take you through the entire experience in a single charge, so each tour covers 1520 kilometres,” he adds.

Every circuit has a theme, like culture, island, food, history, or village. For instance, guests can ride to a 200-year-old Portuguese house in Goa and enjoy a traditional meal. In Coorg, they whiz through meandering paths that lead to an untouched lake and a coffee date at a local home.

In the next 12 months, Mukherjee and Kholkar want BLive to be present in 25+ locations with a fleet of nearly 500 e-bikes. They have partnered with hospitality chains such as Club Mahindra, The Leela, Radisson Blu, Hyatt, and Marriott to offer e-bike tours at all their property locations. “We have also signed an MoU with GCUK (Green Cross UK) to be their sustainable-tourism partner,” Mukherjee says.

But the project is not without its roadblocks. “One of our first challenges was to integrate e-bikes in a way that does not hamper consumer experience but enhances it,” explains Kholkar. “We ensured that, like a movie theatre, there are two timings. A morning show and an afternoon show. This not only ensures that the batteries are charged but also that the bikes are thoroughly checked for mechanical issues,” he says.

Both Kholkar and Mukherjee believe that sustainable tourism is the need of the hour, and that their venture plays a critical role in the revolution. “So far, we have saved 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide (emission) through our eco-friendly tours. That is the kind of positive impact our tours deliver,” Mukherjee says.

Favourite foreign destinations: Kholkar: Croatia Mukherjee: Mexico Favourite Indian destinations: Both of us loved Ladakh! On the bucket list: Both: Norway for the Northern Lights, and Northeast India