Inaugurates Jungle Safari and Crocodile trail in Surai forests of Udham Singh Nagar
Thursday, 30 December 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the people residing in the vicinity of the forests face many problems due to the complexities in the forest laws and it affects their agriculture also. He said that understanding this problem the Uttarakhand government has decided to link the forests and wildlife with the economy and create self employment opportunities for the local people. He was addressing a programme organised to start the Jungle safari in the Surai Ecotourism zone in Khatima, Udham Singh Nagar on Wednesday. The CM said that the objective of the programme is to bring Khatima and surrounding areas into the tourism map.
The CM also inaugurated the Kakra crocodile trail on the occasion. The Kakra Nalla is situated on the western border of Surai ecotourism zone and is habitat of Marsh crocodile.
He said that the eastern Tarai forest division is full of biodiversity and has a good presence of wildlife and this area would be developed systematically into an eco tourism zone. The natural beauty of the area would be used to provide direct and indirect employment to the locals, he said.
Dhami said that with an aim of linking forests with the local economy ‘CM Young ecopreneur scheme’ was launched in Dehradun on October 1. He claimed that work on implementation of the scheme has started and initially an eco tourism zone is being developed in Surai in Khatima. Dhami said that the programme would be operated through the Village committees. The local youth would get employment as Gypsy drivers, owners and guides with the start of Jungle Safari. He said that the scheme would be extended to the whole of the state so that the forests and wildlife become a strength and not a weakness of the local population.
The entrepreneurship skills in the field of nature guide, drone pilot, wildlife photographer and wildlife tourism would be developed under the CM Ecopreneur scheme’.
Surai Eco Tourism Zone
On the orders of the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami the forest department has developed the Surai forest area in Khatima as a BioDiversity Trail. Spread into an area of 180 square kilometers and marked by Melaghat road in north, Pilibhit Tiger reserve in south, Sarda sagar dam in east and Khatima town in west, the Surai forest is bestowed with nature. The area is frequented by Tigers and has 125 species of mammals and 150 species of birds. The forest department has created a trail of 40 km for the Safari in the area.
