Gujarat: Lion safaris start at Girnar sanctuary

A WEEK AFTER Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s announcement, lion safaris formally started in Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary (GWLS) in Junagadh on Tuesday, making the hilly forest the second protected habitat of Asiatic lions to have a tourism zone.
Gir National Park and Sanctuary (GNPS) in Sasan village of Junagadh district is the opposite protected forest space which has a tourism zone and is known for lion safaris.
This can be the second main tourism undertaking to be launched in GWLS after the Girnar temple ropeway inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 24 final yr.
The first batch of vacationers have been flagged off at a low key affair on the Republic Day from Indreshwar Naka, an entry level to the GWLS on its western periphery. In all, complete of seven safari automobiles made the 26-km-long spherical journeys on Tuesday and an equal variety of them on Wednesday, forest officers stated.
“This is not a lion safari per say. This is more of a nature trail. However, tourists did get to see lions on Tuesday,” Sanjay Berwal, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) of Junagadh territorial forest division informed The Indian Express on Wednesday.
The safaris will start from Indreshwar Naka, cross via Jambudi beat and go until Paturan beat earlier than returning on the identical route, forest officers stated. Officially, these safaris have been termed Girnar Nature Safari and could have just one route. “This is a route on the periphery of the forest. More routes are not possible right now due to hilly terrain,” Berwal additional stated.
During his go to to Junagadh metropolis on January 20 to put the muse stone of a city-wide underground drainage community, CM Rupani had introduced that safaris in GWLS would start quickly.
A notice of the forest division acknowledged that the principle targets of the character safaris have been to lift public consciousness about the advantages of nature and pure sources, to have interaction folks residing close to Girnar in conservation of GWLS. The notice additional stated that youth from villages falling within the eco-sensitive zone of the sanctuary alongside the route alignment had been given coaching of working as vacationer guides at Sasan and that vacationers should pay Rs 400 payment to those guards per journey.
The inauguration comes regardless of a case difficult the undertaking nonetheless pending with the Gujarat High Court. “However, the government has taken a decision to go ahead with the project. As such, there is no express stay on the project by the court,” the DCF stated.

The undertaking was to start in 2019 however was delayed because of the litigation.
When contacted by The Indian Express for a remark, Environment and Forest Minister Ganpat Vasava stated that he would search particulars concerning the undertaking and would revert.
Berwal stated that the forest division had sanctioned quotas of eight permits per day—4 within the morning session and an equal quantity within the night session. One allow, on which a most of six individuals plus a baby can go on safari, will price Rs 800 throughout weekdays and Rs 1,000 on Saturdays and Sundays. The safaris would occur from 6:45 am to 9:45 am and from 3 pm to six pm throughout October to February and from 6 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 7 pm throughout March to June. The safaris would stay suspended throughout the annual Girnar Parikrama (which takes place a number of days after Diwali) and Shivrati Fair which is organised within the month of Magh.