Chandrapur (Mohammad Suleman Baig):
The Forest Department recently invited fifteen officials on a preliminary study excursion to Singapore and Dubai for the planned ‘Tiger Safari’ on the Mul Road in Chandrapur. During the holiday, the authorities looked into night safaris, bird sanctuaries, zoos, and the Sharjah Safari.
This official team will shortly provide the state government with a comprehensive report. State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has declared that the ‘Tiger Safari’ will begin in an open space near the Forest Academy on the Chandrapur-Mul Road. The estimated cost of this project is between 150 to 200 crores. The idea behind this safari is to place tourists in a cage with the wildlife wandering freely around them. Forest Minister Mungantiwar made this announcement in March during Chandrapur’s Tadoba Festival.
A group of officials, including Principal Secretary of the Forest Department B. Venugopal Reddy, Chief Conservator of Forests of the Forest Ministry and Revenue Department Ravikiran Govekar, Chief Executive Officer of Gorewada Zoo, Nagpur, Chandrasekharan Bala, Shatanik Bhagwat, Divisional Forest Officer of Gorewada Project; Deepak Sawant, Curator; and Shweta Boddu, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Chanda Forest Division visited Singapore from May 13 to May 17.
The officials which travelled on a tour to Dubai from May 26 to June 2 comprised Vivek Hoshing, Deputy Secretary of the Forest Department; Siddhesh Sawdekar, Officer on Special Duty at the Ministry; Sanjeev Gaur, Chief General Manager of FDCM (Planning); Sumit Kumar, CEO of Gorewada Zoo in Nagpur, Chandrasekharan Bala, Divisional Forest Officer of the Gorewada Project; Bhagwat, Gorewada Project Manager; Arjun Tyagi; and Dr.Jitendra Ramgaonkar, Chandrapur Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. This team went to the Sharjah Safari and gathered fresh information.