Kaziranga: sandwiched b/w flood

Kazriranga (Asom), Apr 23: Believe it or not, Kazriranga National Park has received close to 500 tourists everyday in the past six months even if it is being threatened by continuous erosion by the Brahmaputra.

Although the Kaziranga's most well guarded secret, the Arimura forest camp, the most enviable forest camp of the India, is facing certain destruction this monsoon, a staggering 82,000 tourists visited the most known tourists destination of the Northeast.

The Brahmaputra, which has come barely 300 mt from the camp, which is the most privilege destination for the nature lovers, is eating away more than a meters every day, said a top official of the Park.

The Armiura camp is located in an area of the park which is not open for tourists and no one except forest authorities are allowed to go that far as it falls in the core area of the park.

But irrespective of all that, the tourists are flocking in and in fact with another week to go, the actual figure of tourists should reach around 83,000 as the park would be closed on April 30 for next six months because of monsoon.

The wildlife sanctuary, a world heritage site, received total 81,758 visitors during the just ended season from November, 2005 to March, 2006 though the season witnessed slight decline in number of foreign tourists compared to the previous season, said DFO of the Park Utpal Bora.

A total of 77,047 domestic tourists and 4711 tourists from abroad visited the park during 2005-06 seasons as against 67,719 domestic tourists and 5154 foreign tourists during the previous season of 2004-05.

The park authority has, however, remained unperturbed over slight decline in number of foreign tourists and enthused over considerable rise in domestic tourists that resulted in increase in revenue collection for the park authority in the form of tourists entry fees. The park earned nearly Rs 67 lakh as gate fee.

The park authority hopes the number will increase in the coming season with improved infrastructure in place.

The rise in number of visitors to Kaziranga park has been a boon to the neighbourhood economy with numerous tourists season lodging and eateries doing brisk business. Numerous local entrepreneurs are earning their livelihood by running jeep safaris for tourists whose swelling number makes it difficult for KNP authority as well as Asom tourism department to arrange for sufficient number of safaris.

UNI