BARIPADA: The Forest department on Saturday restricted entry of visitors to certain parts of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) after protests by locals led to disruption of tourists’ movement. Tourists have been requested not to visit nature camps at Barehipani, Kumari and Gurguria till further information owing to the agitation. Deputy director of Similipal North division Sai Kiran said day visit to the TR has also been restricted temporarily to avoid inconvenience to the visitors. However, other places of the national park are open for the tourists, he said.
Sources said tourists on their way to nature camps in the tiger reserve on the day were stranded due to protest and road blockade staged by residents of Jashipur as well as members of Similipal Bikash Parishad, an outfit in Karanjia sub-division, seeking fulfilment of their various demands including construction of morrum road and concrete bridges in the region.
“As the agitation caused inconvenience to the tourists, we decided to clamp the restriction temporarily,” Kiran said. The STR authorities have advised tourists to wait for further updates and plan their visit accordingly. For further updates, tourist have been asked to call the helpline number on the official website of Similipal or Ecotour Odisha.
The agitators who blocked the roads near Joranda chowk, Sana Uski, Barheipani, Naana and Lanjighosara chowk restricting visitors’ entry to nature camps, demanded better roads from Kalikaprasad Gate to Gadasimilipal. They also sought installation of mobile towers in the TR, concrete bridge to cross the main road connected to the tiger reserve, roads to all villages inside STR under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and jobs for unemployed youths of peripheral areas of the tiger reserve. They threatened to continue their agitation for an indefinite period if their demands are not met.