Rajaji National Park reopens on Nov. 15

P.S. Chauhan

If you are a wildlife enthusiast and like to enjoy the pristine beauty of nature then Rajaji National Park situated in the foothills of the Shiwalik ranges of the Himalayas in the upper Gangetic plains, is a good destination for you. After remaining closed during the monsoon, the park is reopening for the tourists and the visitors on November 15. "This year the heavy rains caused heavy losses in the park and devastated all the tracks and the roads. After repairing them we are ready to welcome the visitors from November 15, with traditional hospitality and all the possible facilities at our disposal," says S.S. Rasailly, the director of the park.

The park, named after the first Governor General of the country, Rajgopalachari, lovingly called Rajaji, was carved in 1983 after amalgamating the Chilla, the Motichoor and the Rajaji wildlife sanctuaries, along with the adjoining forest areas, mainly as an Elephant Project. It spreads over 820.82 sq. kms. of Haridwar, Dehradun & Pauri districts of Uttarakhand and is home to about 50 species of mammals including leopard, wild boar, cheetal and sambhar, and more than 300 species of avifauna belonging to 57 bird families. The rich bio-diversity, including its large variety of flora, fauna and avifauna , makes it a preferred destination for eco-tourism.

The main charm of the park lies in its Asiatic elephants which are found here in "Gods plenty." Since the central government has recently accorded to the elephant, which is an integral part of our cultural traditions, the status of "the national heritage animal,” the park has acquired greater significance and attention. Out of the total population of about 22,000 elephants in the country, Uttarakhnad is home to about 1350. According to the last wildlife census carried out in 2008, there were 418 elephants in the park, making it the largest habitat for the pachyderms in the state. The best thing about the population profile of the pachyderms in the park is the male female ratio. Ritesh Joshi, a noted wildlife expert and chief investigator of the central government sponsored Elephant Behaviour Project, says that the male female ratio in the park is 1: 4.5. "It is the best male female ratio of elephants in the country," says Joshi.

Thousands of visitors come to the park every year. During 2007-2008, 18864 tour vists visited the park, which generated the revenue of Rs.18.19 lakh, while the number of visitors during 2008-2009 rose to 19288, with the earning of Rs. 19.56 lakh for the park. During the year 2009-2010, the number of tourists came down to 18882 with the revenue generation of Rs. 27.16 lakh. The Dy. Director of the park, Shravan Kumar attributes the decline in the number of visitors in the park last year to the various traffic constraints in the Kumbh held at Haridwar, though the revenue earning went up due to increase in the entry fee charged from the visitors.

The full potential of the park for eco-tourism remains to the tapped. At this time out of the nine ranges of the park only the Chilla range is the main hub for the tourists. The park authorities say that now to take off pressure form the Chilla range they are planning to develop some other eco-tourism zones, such as the Ranipur-Beriwala zone, Motichoor zone and Ramgarh zone. The park sources also say that they are initiating several other measures, such as providing training to the local villagers as guides, renovating rest houses and improving infrastructure, to lure more tourists. At this time the facility of elephant safari is also not available in the park. Arundhati, lovingly called the Queen of the park, which used to take the visitors round the park, died a few years ago. The park authorites have three female elephants under their custody, but they are not being used for safari due to some legal dispute.

The chief wildlife warden of the state, S.K. Chandola says that the visitors who genuinely come to enjoy the charm of nature and the sight of wildlife are most welcome, but the park should not be treated as a picnic spot. "We are all for regulated tourism. Our main objective is the conservation of bio-diversity. Tourism comes afterwards. There cane be no eco-tourism exercise at the cost of flora and fauna of the park," avers Chandola.