Assam Forest and Environment Minister Parimal Suklabaidya has directed officials of the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park to explore every possible avenue to build environment-friendly infrastructure so that tourists can visit the park.
The rich flora and fauna of the Park will attract tourists in hordes but amenities have to be created, including accommodation inside the park premises will bring more tourists, the Minister said while reviewing the existing status of the Park with forest officials, sources said on Monday.
He directed the officials to come up with eco-friendly structures for tourists’ stay and also discussed plans to set up eco friendly pre-fabricated guest house and said that the matter will be taken up with the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC).
Divisional Forest Officer Sandip Kumar apprised the Minister that 15 to 20 families who have encroached on the Park’s land have been served notice to vacate and they would move out soon.
The Minister appreciated the initiative to set up anti-poaching camps with towers and directed the officials to ensure that no poaching takes place in the national park.
There are currently 40 anti-poaching camps with eight watch towers covering an area of 79.28sqkm.
Mr. Suklabaidya also reviewed the preparedness of the park authorities to deal with impending floods, directing them to maintain strict vigil and to rescue the wild animals from flood water.
The DFO informed that 50% of the park consists of highlands, most of the animals take shelter there and the number of casualty is less.
Two speed boats, two motorised boats and 30 country boats are ready to be pressed into rescue operation of wildlife during flooding, he added.
The Orang National Park, also a tiger reserve is home to 29 Royal Bengal Tigers (as in 2017), 101 rhinos (as in 2018), deer, pythons and other animals.
