Assam: Dehing Patkai National Park opens officially for tourists at Digboi

 OUR CORRESPONDENT

DIGBOI: The Dehing Patkai National Park - another dipterocarp-dominated green asset which harbours the largest stretch of lowland rainforests in India was formally opened for tourists on Saturday afternoon at Digboi.

The Forest Minister of Assam Chandra Mohan Patowary ceremonially inaugurated the park at its artistically designed lofty entry point under Digboi Forest Division in Tinsukia district.

A host of dignataries, including Digboi MLA Suren Phukan and Thowra legislator Sushanta Borgohain also accompanied the Minister during the event.

The Dehing Patkai National Park is located in the Dibrugarh,Tinsukia and Charaideo districts of Assam, covering an area of 231.65 km2 (89.44 sq mi) of rainforest, besides spreading over parts of Tirap and Changlang districts of neighbouring state of Arunachal Pradesh.

It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 2004. Subsequently, in 2020, the Government of Assamupgraded the extensive rainforest into a national park.

The Forest Department of Assam in 2021 had officially notified the bewitching forest area as a national park.

"The park has been officially opened to the public from Saturday onwards" said Patowary, while participating in the inauguration ceremony, adding that, "the main gate of the national park was constructed by the state government at a cost of approximately Rs 10 lakh.

The state Government would also devise effective mechanisms to promote the destination on a wider scale to draw tourists from both domestic and foreign spheres."

It is necessary to recognize the pivotal role and unwavering efforts of TC Ranjith Ram, the DFO of Digboi Division to have his dream materialized. This effort would remain engraved in golden words.

Meanwhile, Mr Patowary, who is also the state minister of Industries and Commerce, while addressing the media, outlined the importance of both oil and forest resources in the area, adding that both natural resources are crucial to the development of the state.

"In comparison to Gujarat's Jamnagar refinery, which has a capacity of 60 MMTPA, our state has four refineries with a combined capacity of only 7 MMTPA. As such, we intend to expand the capacity of Digboi's heritage refinery to that of a capacity of 1 MMTPA from the existing 0.65 MMTPA," the Minister said while addressing the media.

However, it is important to recall here that the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant. Later, in the1980's, Dehing-Patkai was identified as a potential wildlife sanctuary during a primate survey and upgraded to Upper Dehing Wildlife Sanctuary.

Subsequently, during a study on white-winged wood duck in early 1990s, the said green cover with anundulating topography was discovered as a globally important site for this duck and recommended to be upgraded to Upper Dehing National Park.

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