Rajasthan to open Jhalana forest for tourists

As part of a plan to give a filip to eco tourism in the state, the Rajasthan government is planning to open Jhalana forest area in Jaipur soon for tourists.

"We are developing the forest area under a Rajasthan biodiversity project with an investment of around Rs 25 lakh," a forest department official said.

The park is being developed on about 470 hectare in the Kho-Nagoria area of Jhalana. A circular track of 8-10 km across the forest areas has already been constructed for the development of the park.

Tourists will be able to drive their vehicles on this track to see the wildlife in the park. Environment camps will also be organised in the park to educate and make tourists aware about the ecology, flora and fauna. Camel and horse safari will also be organised in the hills of Jhalana forest area.

An enclosure, anicuts and water holes have also been constructed so that wildlife can sustain their natural habitat.The official said the anicut in the park would become an ideal place for migrant birds from different part of the world. For the last three years, many migrant birds have been coming to the area.

Along with deer, tourists would also be able to see several other animals like monkey, hyena, fox and blue bull in the park. Forest lodges in the hills of the area are being converted into rest house. These locations were earlier used by erstwhile rulers for poaching.

A special binocular is being placed on the hilltop of the park from where the tourist would be able to get the overview of the park and Jaipur city.

"The entry tariff for tourists and their vehicle is still to be finalised by the state government. A detailed proposal in this regard has been sent to the state government", official added.

Tourist would also be able to get detailed information of various medicinal plants and their uses in the park.

Over 30 kinds of rare and different species of medicinal plants are present in the in the park. Every tree had its nomenclature written on its trunk, he said.

It may be mentioned here that with an aim to boost eco tourism, a draft eco tourism policy has already been prepared in Rajasthan. The draft, which is still under the consideration of the government, aims at ensuring optimum utilisation of the rich biodiversity of natural resources, cultural heritage and nature related historical sites for socio-economic development of the state.

"So far, tourism in Rajasthan has been attracting domestic and foreign tourists towards its national park and wild life sanctuaries in large numbers but the hills of Aravali and Vindhyas still offer more scope for nature and forest-related tourism," a forest department official said adding that the draft policy had been prepared keeping this in mind.

The draft, he said, aimed at providing tourists with nature tourism opportunities and also aimed at generating income to strengthen protected areas and augment economic benefits for local people.

Rajasthan has two tiger projects, a bird sanctuary and 25 wild life sanctuaries besides 32 closed areas.