Bhitarkanika National Park More Tourist-Friendly This Season

Kendrapara: After remaining closed for three months from May 1, 2018 in view of the breeding season of the saltwater crocodiles, the Bhitarkanika National Park was reopened for tourists on Wednesday.

Sources in the park said that the footfall on the first day was pretty less due to continuous rainfall.

Talking to mediapersons, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Rajnagar Wildlife Division, Bimal Prasanna Acharya said the Forest Department has come up with some facilities for tourists during the period that the park was closed.

“This year, we have made extra arrangements with eight new cottages at Dangamal for night halt inside the park. Apart from this, keeping the difficulties of the elderly and differently abled tourists, we have arranged two new solar-powered vehicles. Also, the Forest Department has procured two new all-weather power-driven boats with toilet facilities to facilitate a view of the park from the river,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Rajnagar Wildlife Division, Bimal Prasanna Acharya, told mediapersons here.

Acharya said the Forest Department had taken the decision to close the National Park for the safety of the tourists and visitors as saltwater crocodiles tend to get very aggressive during the breeding season and attack people without provocation.

The DFO said as per the annual census conducted in January 2016, the population of saltwater crocodiles in Bhitarkanika had gone up to 1671.

“Last year, we had identified 80 nesting sites of the estuarine crocodile inside Bhitarkanika. The number has gone up to 101 this year,” Acharya said.

He said of the 101 nesting sites, 84 have been found in Kanika Wildlife Range, 13 in Rajnagar, three in Gahirmatha and one in Mahakalapada range.