Nameri National Park gets Rs 24 lakh facelift with new gate and jeep safari
The Nameri National Park, rich in biodiversity, continues to attract both domestic and foreign visitors.
The newly inaugurated entry gate at Potasali, Nameri National Park (Source: @namerinptr / X)
Tezpur, Jan 10: Nameri National Park, known for its untouched serene beauty, has got a new dimension in the tourism sector with a facelift to attract both foreign and domestic tourists.
In a function held at the Potashali area on Tuesday, Assam's Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary inaugurated the newly constructed entry gate of the Nameri National Park, which has been constructed with a budget of Rs 24 lakh. Patowary outlined the steps taken for adding more attractions to the Nameri National Park. He also launched a jeep safari facility for tourists. The new gate features a life-sized elephant and a tiger made by sculptor Alakesh Parashar. Among others, dignitaries from the west division of the forest department, including Binay Gupta, and district commissioner of Sonitpur Ankur Bharali, were present on the occasion.
During the programme, the Forest Minister formally appointed two teachers in Torajan LP School and gave away cheques of Rs 1,63,888 to Seijusa EDC and Rs 2,60,210 to Bhalukpong EDC, respectively.
It may be mentioned that the Nameri National Park stands in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in Sonitpur district, some 35 km away from Tezpur, the district headquarter, and shares its northern boundary with the Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh.
Together, they constitute an area of over 1,000 km, of which Nameri has a total area of 200 km. Declared as a tiger reserve in the year 2000, it is the second tiger reserve of Assam after Manas. It has two core areas Nameri National Park and SonaiRupai wildlife sanctuary.
The river Jia-Bharali is the life line of Nameri, and it flows along the southern boundary of the park from the north- west to the southeast. In the east, the river BorDikorai is a tributary of river Jia-Bharali, flowing along the southern boundary from the northeast to the southwest and providing a majestic identity to the park.
The Nameri National Park is rich in biodiversity, with beautiful flora and fauna, including 300 bird species, Royal Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, clouded leopard, barking deer, sambar deer, wild pig, sloth bear, capped langur, Indian giant squirrel, elephant, white- winged wood duck, and hornbill, among others.
It is a major tourist attraction after the Kaziranga National Park.
Last season, a total of 1,036 foreign tourists and over 3,000 domestic tourists visited the park, generating nearly Rs 27 lakh as revenue.