Rajaji National Park which was closed on Friday evening for the repair and maintenance works undertaken during the monsoon season has recorded a huge footfall of tourists during the summer season. Informing, the director of the park Sanatan Sonekar said that the figure has crossed 40,000 and it has been on the rise over the past four years since 2014.
The forest officials further said that the figure of the tourists has seen a phenomenal increase since the Beatles Ashram (Chaurasi Kutia) was opened for the visitors. They claimed that the huge rise in the footfall has brought a substantial gain for the national park in terms of revenue generation. Notably, the ruins of the ashram had remained closed to the visitors for long in the name of conserving the wildlife habitat. While the tourists had helped the park generate a revenue to the tune of nearly Rs 1 crore In 2015-16 the figure had jumped Rs 2.5 crore in the financial year 2016-17. This year, as per the officers’ claim, the revenue earned by the national park has increased by Rs 10 lakh more as compared to the previous year.
Sonekar said that in the wake of approaching monsoon season, Rajaji National Park which also includes Rajaji Tiger Reserve would remain closed for tourists for the next five months.
The wild life lovers would not be able to do safaris since the tracks get washed away with the rain water and the seasonal rivers, criss- crossing the park, are in full spate during the monsoon season which begins from 15 June. The pre-monsoon light showers this weekend signalled that the monsoon shower is round the corner.
The park officials sounded elated over the rising number of tourists in the Chilla tourist circuit since 2013, the year when the dreaded deluge had struck Kedar Valley which cast its sombre shadow on the tourism sector for some time. The five tourist circuits of Rajaji Tiger Reserve -Chilla, Motichur, Ranipur, Mohand and Asharodhi- have been closed for the tourists, the officers added.
Speaking to The Pioneer, a wildlife enthusiast Rajeev Mehta said, “The notification of Rajaji National Park as the second tiger reserve after Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand in 2015 has proved a major boost to the tourism sector since tiger is a major attraction for the tourists.” Many tourists from NCR visited this summer for the coveted Gypsy safaris in the Chilla range, added Mehta.
The wildlife warden of Rajaji National Park Haridwar Range Mahesh Semwal said, “The influx of tourists was badly hit in the year 2013 and its hostile impact lasted till 2014. It started picking up in 2015 and 2016. It was hit again for some months in 2017 thanks to demonetisation. This year, however, things have looked up. In all, 1752 foreigners have visited the tiger reserve this year as compared to 1600 of last year, something which portends good for us.”