BHUBANESWAR : The wildlife wing of the Forest department has submitted a plan with an outlay of Rs 99 crore to take up eco-tourism project in Satkosia Tiger Reserve.
Sources said the plan is similar to the Rs 71.19 crore eco-tourism plan for Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary, which was approved by the state government recently. “The eco-tourism plan for Satkosia has been proposed in a similar line and we are expecting its approval soon,” informed a wildlife wing official.
He said like Debrigarh, funds for the Satkosia eco-tourism project have also been sought from the central government under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) scheme of the Ministry of Tourism.
The Satkosia Tiger Reserve, comprising Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary and Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary over an area of around 1,136.70 sq km, is spread across the districts of Angul, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Boudh. It is also the second tiger reserve in the state and a crucial habitat for the big cats, elephants and several endangered species.
Sources said the wildlife wing of the Forest department worked out the eco-tourism project plan for Satkosia as well as Debrigarh after it submitted to the Supreme Court-monitored Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in July that it had dropped the contentious tourism and infrastructure plans in the two above-mentioned key protected areas of the state by the Tourism department.
The wildlife wing in its compliance report had also stated that only eco-tourism activities will be taken up in both the protected areas by the Forest, Environment and Climate Change department as per the guidelines of MoEFCC, approved tiger conservation plan and observations of the Supreme Court regarding Satkosia Tiger Reserve.