Skaters turn beggars for deers at Sarnath

Varanasi, June 5 (UNI) Young roller-skaters here today have turned beggars only for helping deer population which was living in an awful state at the Buddhist pilgrimage of Sarnath.

A total of 81 'cheetals' and five black-bucks -- both endangered deer species -- are housed at the Deer Park.

This park is one of the prime attraction for the tourists as it is believed to be the seat where Buddha delivered his first sermons.

Over 50 roller-skaters aged between five and 18 years marked the World Environment Day by collecting funds for the deers and other animals living in abysmal state at the Park, which has been recognised as a 'mini zoo' by the Central Zoo Authority. The collected money was later handed over to the forest department.

''It is our duty to care for these rare animals here, who also heard sermons of Buddha, besides, his seven disciples,'' said Soni Chaurasiya and Shivani Mehrotra, young boys from Rajesh Dogra's Skating School.

The young skaters also took out a rally later in the morning to appeal to the people to donate money for helping out the deers and other animals in the park. Besides, deers, the Park also houses over 200 birds, crocodiles and tortoises.

''Ten-years-ago, this park also had rare Sambar deer, but owing to improper nourishment and medical help, the deer died.

Similarly, Cheetals and Black Bucks would meet the same fate if necessary steps are not initiated by the government,'' admitted Ram Swaroop, the only care-taker at the Park.

''The nourishment provided to them is inadequate and is often procured on credit basis from local contractors due to lack of funds. It is the animal lovers who feed them with fruits and vegetables. Unlike the Zoological parks in the state, this Mini Zoo has no permanent doctor or dispensary and a government doctor only knocks the door when some animal is in a serious condition,'' he added.

Adding to the woes, two of the three tube wells installed at Sarnath do not work and the only one that functions is used free of cost, mostly, by the members of the Maha Bodhi Society of India chaired by industrialist B K Modi. There is also no provision of shades where these animals can get respite from the scorching heat,'' he lamented.

Admitting the dearth of resources, Divisional Forest Officer L R Bairwa said ''lack of funds is responsible for the sorrow state of the animals at Deer Park frequented by tourists especially, Buddhists from across the globe.'' ''Earlier it used to get funds under the Van Park Scheme in district plan of the State Forest Department, but after the scrapping of the scheme we are forced to meet our requirements with a paltry sum of Rs nine lakh annually. Against the minimum requirement of Rs 20 lakh, only Rs six lakh is spent on the upkeep of animals,'' he added.

He also attributed blocking of funds from the Tourism Department and Japanese Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) as the reason behind the awful state of animals.

No external help would be required if the money, generated from selling park tickets, which amounts to Rs seven lakh, is invested in the development of the park, he added.

The DFO, however, hoped the two projects worth Rs 1.89 crore and Rs 60 lakh proposed by the Forest Department to the CZA and the UP government, respectively for facelift of Park might be cleared soon.

UNI