Jamshedpur: Tourists visiting Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary would soon be able to enjoy night safari at the best elephant habitat of Jharkhand. As per the plans, the tourists will be able to travel in jeeps or walk down the stretch which will have solar power fencing. Forest guides and guards would accompany the tourists on the safari. Visitors can watch the wild animals moving around in their natural habitat.
Kolhan Commissioner Manish Ranjan convened a meeting in this regard at the district headquarters. He gave instructions to prepare a blueprint of the project. Representatives from Tata Steel also took part in the meeting. He asked the concerned authorities to take steps to boost tourism.
“Our idea is to promote `night tourism’ to give a push to the tourism industry in the State. This is the reason why we are heading night safari at Dalma. During the meeting, discussions were also made to think ways of boosting tourism at different water bodies like Dalma Lake and Chandil dam,” said an official.
He noted that there is a need to encourage tourism apart from the peak tourist period, especially in places located on the travel route. Suggestions of tourists and locals should also be obtained on the proposed plan.
He went on to add that security is also a prime concern at any place related to the wildlife. During the meeting discussions were made ways to curb poaching of animals. Crime in sanctuaries has been caught many times on surveillance instruments in the past.
Dalma sprawls over an area of 193 square kilometres and houses 85 villages inside the enclave and 51 villages in its periphery. Dalma is frequently visited by people of Odisha and Kolkata. In fact a large number of foreigners also visited Dalma last year.
Notably Dalma is the best elephant habitat of Jharkhand, where the pachyderms love to spend their summer. Dalma used to be pleasing with temperatures less than 30 degrees C. The availability of water during summer is all the more alluring for the elephants to migrate. There are over 80 elephants in the Dalma sanctuary. The elephants often have the tendency to go into agricultural fields adjoining the sanctuary in search of food. The forest department has made arrangements to keep them anchored in Dalma, by providing water and greenery.
