Assam's Kaziranga National Park reopens after 7 months

Guwahati: The Kaziranga National Park famed for one-horned rhinoceros, opened to tourists on Wednesday, after being closed for seven months due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal formally reopened the KNP and expressed hope that this will revive the states tourism sector which has been severely hit by the pandemic.

The National Park generally remains shut for around five months every year since April-end during the monsoon season when floods occur in the state. This year, the Park was closed in March after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to corb the coronavirus infection. 

Sonowal also said that unemployed youths in and around Kaziranga would find meaningful employment again through jeep safari and other tourism-related activities.

He said that the state government had provided one-time financial assistance to people engaged in the jeep safari to alleviate their economic stress brought by COVID-19.

The state government would take more such initiatives in future for providing succour to the people engaged in the tourism sector of the state, the chief minister said.

He asked the people of the five districts covered by the Park and the local communities residing in the surrounding areas of the Park to extend full hospitality to the visitors coming from outside.

Sonowal also urged tourists to maintain all COVID-19 protocols while visiting the National Park and other places so that the spread of the pandemic can be contained.

The chief minister said that the state government was able to stop rhino poaching to a great extent in the last four and half years and thanked the people of the nearby areas for extending their full cooperation in this regard.

Accompanied by Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, Water Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta and Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, Sonowal also went around the Park in a jeep safari.