- Tourism in Kaziranga National Park
Kaziranga National Park (Assamese: কাজিৰঙা ৰাষ্ট্ৰীয় উদ্যান "Kazirônga Rastriyô Uddyan," IPA2|kaziɹɔŋa ɹastɹijɔ udːjan [http://www.baruah.in/wiki/kaziranga.wav] ) is an
India n national park and anUNESCO World Heritage Site situated in the Golaghat andNagaon district ofAssam ,India . It is a tourist destination and conservation area particularly notable as a refuge for the endangered Indianone-horned rhinoceros ("Rhinoceros unicornis"), hosting the largest population of wild Indian one-horned Rhinoceros in the world. The park contains significant stock of three other large herbivores — theAsian Elephant , theAsiatic Water Buffalo and the eastern subspecies of theSwamp Deer . Kaziranga also has the highest density oftiger in the world and is declared aTiger Reserve in 2006. Kaziranga is recognized as anImportant Bird Area byBirdlife International for conservation of avifaunal species.Tourist activities
The means of travel inside the park is on the back of trained elephants with
mahout guides, or inJeep or4WD vehicles. Most rides are booked in advance and depart from the Park Administrative Centre inKohora . The Park has three tourist routes under the jurisdiction of three Ranges — Kohora, Bagori and Agaratoli. These roads are open to light vehicles from November to mid May. The park remains closed from mid-April to mid-October due to monsoon. Visitors willing to view wild life by motorcars are guided through these roads by the staff of this department. The visitors are allowed to take in their own vehicles, however no visitor is allowed to enter the park without an accompanying representative of the forest department.Observation tower s are situated at Sohola, Mihimukh, Kathpara, Foliamari and Harmoti for spotting wildlife. Wildlife watching, includingbirding is the main activity inside the park. Viewing the scenic landscape of the park with different vegetation types interspersed with numerousbeel s and the snow covered mountains of Himalayas at a distance constitute other attractions.Hiking in the park is not allowed taking into consideration the large number of potentially dangerous wild animals.An interpretation centre is being set up at the Bagori range of Kaziranga, to help the visitors know everything about the park. [cite news
title = Information Safari | publisher =The Telegraph | date =2007-03-31 | url = http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070331/asp/northeast/story_7583733.asp
accessdate = 2007-04-10 ]Lodging
The park has a wide range of accommodation including rest houses, dormitory and lodges maintained by the
Department of Environment and Forests, Government of Assam and theIndia Tourism Development Corporation . At present there are four Government tourist lodges of different categories at Kohora and three tourist lodges inside the park. Numerous private resorts are also available outside the borders of the park.cite paper
title = Section II: Periodic Report on the State of Conservation of Kaziranga National Park, India
publisher =UNESCO
year =2003
url =http://whc.unesco.org/archive/periodicreporting/cycle01/section2/337.pdf
format =PDF
accessdate = 2007-02-28 ]Getting there
The main gate for Kaziranga, at Kohora is on the NH-37.
Assam State Transport Corporation and private buses stop here on their way to and fromGuwahati ,Tezpur and Upper Assam. The park is a 4 hour drive from Guwahati (convert|217|km|mi|0) on the NH-37 and 1.5 hrs fromJorhat (convert|97|km|mi|0). Both these cities are well connected to the park by buses and taxies.Furkating (convert|75|km|mi|0 away) is the nearest railway station, other important stations are Jorhat and Guwahati (GHY) stations. The nearest airports areJorhat Airport at Rowriah (convert|97|km|mi|0 away),Tezpur Airport at Salonibari (approx convert|100|km|mi|0 away) andLokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport , Guwahati (approx. convert|217|km|mi|0 away). The nearest town from the park is Bokakhat (convert|23|km|mi|0 away) and the nearest cities are Jorhat and Guwahati.Employment
Tourism benefits the people living in the fringe of the park and helps in empowering the local people. About 35 hotels or lodges of various kinds located just outside the park, out of these, four are run by the government.cite web | last = Mathur | first = V.B. | coauthors = Sinha, P.R. and Mishra, Manoj | title = UNESCO EoH Project_South Asia Technical Report No. -7 -Kaziranga National Park | publisher = UNESCO |url=http://www.enhancingheritage.net/docs/UNESCOEoH_Project_South_Asia_Technical_Report_07_v1.pdf | format =PDF | accessdate = 2007-02-28|pages= pp. 16-17 ] A total of 299 local people are actively employed in these hotels. But, a very few hotels/lodges are owned by the local people. However, some families are offering home stay facilities just outside the park, so that the tourist may get a taste of the local life. People from the adjoining areas own 70 vehicles, which are allowed to be taken into the park, and most of them act as the driver cum guide. On the highway 37, which cuts across the park, 12 local community members own and run public phone booths. There are also 26 shops selling souvenirs etc. that are owned and/or managed by local community members. Many local women also regularly perform traditional dances at some of the larger hotels. Many sell locally handmade woven cloth to the tourist, which act as a money churner. There is tremendous scope for the sale of handicrafts in and around the park. Existing Self Help Groups (SHG) could very well provide a platform for such mechanisms. The
Ministry of Tourism ,Government of India along with theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are jointly supporting rural tourism in village of Durgapur, which falls in the periphery of the Kohora range ofKaziranga along with other initiatives at 31 sites across India.Local people do get some amount of employment from the park in the form of labour and allied activities. Labour requirements for the park include, labour for anti poaching activities and construction of bridges, culverts, etc. Approximately 100 to 200 people are hired per range for removal of
Mimosa , a weed which is harmful for the herbivores. The park authorities have also hired15 local people as security guard to protect the tourist jeeps inside the park. The park has developed a very good network of intelligence throughout the villages surrounding the park. There are key informants in every village, which reports about the movement of poachers and are monetarily compensated for information they provide to the park authorities.Citations
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