 S Tahir-ul Haq
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, July 29: The tall claims of the state government to promote tourism in the valley seems a dream for tourists and the people associated with the industry as according to people Dachigam park here is deteriorating and visitors find it difficult to find any difference between this national park and other local parks of Srinagar city.
Sources said that the state government is not paying proper attention towards the tourism about which they claims high, the roads that leads towards the park never remains hassle free, and the reason is the road is damaged at many places which gives a bad impression to tourists.
The residents of adjacent areas of Dachigam and Harwan blame that the condition of the park has gone bad to worse, and for all this mess, there are some agencies that want to destroy the reputation of the park, including sheep breed farm, fisheries farm, and the Wildlife department itself, sources told early times.
Sources said that, earlier the government wanted to promote the tourism in the valley and they had ensured ensure the world class facilities for the tourists but the ground situation is worst as round the park, the fencing is broken at many places due to which there remains a threat of wild animals.
The lighting has not been installed from all the sides of park, during late hours the locals of the area cannot walk freely, and the night staff is hardly seen who were assigned the patrolling duty so that tourists or locals didn't get feared, said sources.
Local sources said that, there are scores number of employees to safeguard the park from outer threat, but the entire management of Dachigam national park seems in deep slumber, the entire area of about 150 sq kms, has been concentrating on some kilometers now.
The Park had become famous for having huge number of wild animal in it, but there are only some wild animals including bear, leopards, and few monkeys where as tourists hardly gets any glimpses of other animals, said sources while quoting some local tourists.
Sources further said that, Dachigam was famous for having Hangul, but for the last few years, it seems that the animal has vanished from the park and people hardly get a chance to see him, as authorities didn't allow the tourists to visit inside the park, due to threat perception of wild animals.
Fact of the matter is that, almost all the parks and gardens across city are largely in shambles which otherwise are meant for public amusement and recreation, and the authorities concerned are hardly bothered about the tourists, said sources.
Sources said that, Dachigam was declared as a national park in 1981. The park is best known as the home of the Hangul and many other wild animals. |
