BARIPADA: Mayurbhanj police on Sunday rescued 18 tourists who were stranded for over 16 hours inside Similipal national park due to protest by locals. Eastern Range IG Himanshu Lal said since several routes connecting to Similipal were blocked by locals, the tourists remained stuck inside the park for more than 16 hours.
A group of eight police personnel along with Jasipur IIC Sanjukta Mahallick rushed to the entry points of the park at around 8 am on Saturday to convince the agitators but the latter paid no heed. The police team then entered the park and took the tourists to Barehipani.“At least 18 tourists from West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bhubaneswar were brought to Ramtirtha after covering an extra distance of around 65 km through different routes in the park. The tourists were served cooked food in the night,” the IG informed.
IIC Mahallick said eight tourist vehicles were used for the rescue operation and they had to move through dense forest routes before reaching Ramtirtha and Jashipur. “We had detained some of the agitators including the local sarpanch. However, they were released after a few hours,” she added.
Sources said local villagers have restricted entry of visitors to certain parts of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) by blocking the roads near Joranda chowk, Sana Uski, Barheipani, Naana and Lanjighosara chowk. They are demanding better roads from Kalikaprasad Gate to Gadasimilipal, installation of mobile towers, construction of concrete bridge to cross the main road connected to the tiger reserve, roads to all villages inside STR under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and jobs for unemployed youths.
Due to the protest, STR authorities have temporarily restricted entry of tourists into the national park.