Over 1 lakh tourists have visited Kaziranga since Oct 21, Rs. 2 cr collected

GUWAHATI: Over 1 lakh tourists have visited Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve since October 21 when the park was reopened for tourists after the COVID-19 induced lockdown, the Assam Government has confirmed.

According to a release issued by the office of Assam Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya, 1,10,458 people have visited the national park, famed for the one-horned Indian rhinoceros. During this period, Rs. 2.06 crore has been collected as revenue.

It needs mention here that the business in the national park has been hit in the last couple of years; in 2019, the sustained agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act put played a spoilsport in the tourism business; last year, the emergence of the COVID-19 meant that the park had to be kept closed for a longer duration of time.

Even after the reopening of the park, several restrictions have been imposed in a bid to arrest the spread of the deadly disease.

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In September 2020, the Assam government approved the seventh, eighth and ninth additions to the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve. In November, according to a directive of Gauhati High Court, the civil administration of Bokakhat Sub-division under Golaghat district handed over the third and fifth additions to the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

The area of the third addition is 69.76 hectares (ha) and that of the fifth addition is 115.36 ha.

New tourist destinations, some offering river tourism, such as Bhomoraguri, Panpur, Chirang, Banderdubi and Biswanath ghat were also developed during 2020.

Although the revenue of the park was badly hit during the lockdown, park authorities managed to effectively curb rhino poaching; 2 rhinos were poached last year.

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