KENDRAPARA: The Forest department’s decision to close Bhitarkanika National Park from December 26 to January 4 has not gone down well with tourists and tour operators.
Local tour operators said they will lose out on revenue owing to closure of the park for nine days during peak tourist season.
Not far from the forest guest houses, hotel and makeshift tourist camp owners too expressed their discontentment over the matter.
Ramakanta Das, a boat owner from Gupti village said tourists visit the park in large numbers during Christmas and New Year and its closure will affect people who depend on the tourism sector for their livelihood.
Tapan Das, a local tour operator said tour plans of several tourists were cancelled after their entry into the park was banned by the Forest department.
The nine-day ban on tourists’ entry into Bhitarkanika was taken in view of annual census of saltwater crocodiles. Every year, the reptiles are counted during the black fortnight in winter as per lunar calendar. This year, the black fortnight (Krushna Pakhya) is from December 26.
The restriction on visitors’ entry into Bhitarkanika was imposed in order to prevent noise pollution during the counting of crocodiles in the park.
The headcount of the endangered estuarine crocodiles would be done under the supervision of wildlife personnel. The enumerators assisted by trained local forest staff and a few herpetologists including noted crocodile researcher Dr Sudhakar Kar would cover Bhitarkanika river system besides innumerable creeks, water inlets and nullahs, said DFO of the park Bikasah Ranjan Dash.