Odisha’s Similipal Tiger Reserve To Reopen To Tourists From This Date

Bhubaneswar: Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district will reopen to the visitors from October 10, a notification issued by Field Director Prakash Chandra Gogineni on Monday said.

The entry of tourists to the Tiger Reserve was stopped due to rainy season from June 12. The Field Director, in a notice at the time, had said it would remain out of bounds for visitors from June 12 to September 30. The exact date of reopening would be notified and published in daily newspapers, he added.

However, eco-tourism complexes – Jamuani, Gurudia, Kumari, Barehipani and Ramtirtha – were excluded from the restriction and remained open for the visitors.

Normally, the entry of tourists to the reserve forest is prohibited from mid-June every year during the rainy season as road connectivity to various locations inside the sanctuary gets disrupted. The national park, a major tourist destination of Odisha, usually reopens from the first week of November.

According to sources, the sanctuary witnessed a drop in the number of visitors in 2023-24 financial year. While 41,346 tourists visited the national park in 2022-23, their number dropped to 25,846 in 2023-24.