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Police rescued at least 18 tourists who were stranded inside Similipal National Park in Odisha‘s Mayurbhanj district for around 16 hours, officials said. The tourists from Odisha and other states were unable to come out of Barehipani nature camp within the sanctuary due to a road blockade by local people. Personnel from Jashipur police station safely rescued the tourists though a different route on Monday night, SDPO Karanjia Subrat Kumar said.
A local outfit named Similipal Bikash Parishad, which has launched an agitation demanding development of their areas, has blocked three gates to Similipal National Park for an indefinite period.
People from three gram panchayats also joined the agitation and blocked roads at Joranda Chhak, Sana Uski, Chala, and Lanjighosara Chhak, officials added.
Their demand demand include better roads from Kalikaprasad Gates to Gadasimilipal, setting up of mobile towers inside Similipal, a concrete bridge in the sanctuary, road connectivity to all villages inside Similipal under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and creation of employment opportunities for jobless youths of peripheral areas of the sanctuary.
Meanwhile, the national park authorities issued an advisory to tourists requesting them not to proceed to Similipal nature camps at Barehipani, Kumari, and Gurguria till further information.
The national park, which remained closed for three months due to monsoon season, opened for tourists on October 14, 2023.
According to the officials, a pair of female lions from the Alipur Zoo in Kolkata and another pair from Tripura will be brought in the first week of January next year. The construction works of an enclosure on 20 acres of land and night shelters are about to be completed.
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