Jungle Safari Booking Open for 2013-14

It is to inform you that jungle safari booking form popular tiger reserves like Kanha national park, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Panna national park, Tadoba national park in now open.  You may proceed to book your jungle safari tickets as per your plan for the safari season 2013-14. Due to limited entry tickets, it is better to secure your permits as soon as possible. Since opening of online booking, in first 3 hours, premium zone tickets for some peak season dates have been fully sold out. At present some close dates are fully sold out. You may look for newly added add-on option for safari on those dates. Here Madhya Pradesh forest department has introduced some new changes in ticket system to curb ticket-hoarding practices. Some of the prominent features for current season jungle safari booking are:

• Park will open from 16/Oct/2013 to 30/June/2014. 
• Evening safari closed on every Wednesday.
• Their is minor hike in safari tickets fee.
• Guide fee has also been hiked. It is very nominal, nothing to worry.
• 10% Tickets available throughout season, 70% tickets open for 120 days and 20% tickets will be available on booking counter for walkin visitors.
• All online cancelled tickets will not be available online for re-sale but will be available at booking counter for walkin guests.
• Add-on facility is the newly introduced option to get added on existing safari tickets. It means, if in any ticket, member are less than maximum limit, a new person can join them by purchasing his safari ticket using the details of existing tickets. Cancellation is not allowed on add-on tickets.
• Few safari tickets are retained for counter booking. It is very beneficial for those walk-in visitors who reached park without booking safari tickets. It will be on first-come first-serve basis.
• Fee for elephant ride, has been hiked as 500 INR. Per Indian and 1500 INR. Per Foreigner. Duration is 01:00 hours.
• It is mandatory for all the visitors to carry their valid original ID-document with them during all the safari rides. It will be checked at entrance gate for verification.
• No separate fee for camera or photography till you are visiting as a visitor during regular safari round. But if you are doing photography or filmography for commercial cause, then written permission and prescribed fee submission is necessary.
• Safari round duration will be decided by officer-incharge so it may vary from park to park and time to time.
• Usually safari begins 30mins. before sunrise in morning round and goes till 30 mins. after sunset in evening round.
• If safari ticket is not cancelled and guest get delayed by 01 hour from opening time, ticket may to provided for waiting visitors.
• Fee for ticket cancellation has been increased.
• Jungle safari tickets are non-transferable. Alternations are not allowed.

Similarly their are many other rules mentioned. If we study them correctly, we may find some positive outcomes from a normal tourist point of view as:

1. Safari tickets hoarding practice will be minimized which will in turn creates better scope to get safari tickets, even in peak season. If not on online then at entrance gate.
2. Increase in cancellation fee will also reduce ticket hoarding practice.
3. Vehicle limit for most demanded Tala zone has been increased. Now vehicles count for evening round will be equal to morning round. Earlier it was less than morning count.
4. Add-on facility is another innovative step that make better visitors management and increases probability to visit park in a situation when online tickets sold out. Similarly it will reduce per person safari fee cost if divided equally. Multiple add on are allowed on single tickets.
5. Ticket-less visitors have chance to seek ticket from booking counter as some tickets retained for walkin visitors. Similarly, in any ticket party get delayed by 01:00hrs, his ticket will be cancelled and provided to waiting party.

Indus Excursion organizes safari tours for all popular tiger reserves of India. You may give us chance to realize your safari tour plan.

Kaziranga Camera Patrolling

Assam's popular national park Kaziranga who usually remains in news for rhino poaching, will soon come under camera surveillance. Central government of India have approved Dispur's  ambitious project to install thermal cameras at different locations of core area in Kaziranga national park which covers 430 sq.kms. This will help park authority to maintain eye on different locations to check any poaching activity or movement of any suspicious activity so that they can respond quickly. This will reduce their response time due to which, some unprecedented incidents can be avoided.

This approval has come at a time when Kaziranga is passing through its worst time and relentless poaching activities are going on. All the efforts of park authority have proved insufficient to curb rhino killings. Assam state government is facing massive protests by different NGO and wildlife organizations due to their failure to control poaching activities.

Forest and environment minister Rakibul Hussain informed the reports that National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has sanctioned  rupee 3 Crore to install 12 electronic surveillance devices in the park in phased manner. In first phase 8 such devices will be installed in current financial year 2013-14.  These devices will be installed in towers of height 30 to 45 meters maintaining the distance of 20kms from each other. At present such devices have  It will be used to monitor the movements inside the park from 3 central control rooms. One will be at head office in Bokhakhat range, laying in Golaghat district, second in the office of principal chief conservator of forest in Guwahati and third will be at NTCA office in New Delhi. Control room will coordinate with staff of anti-poaching team to initiate prompt action as and when required..

It is the important and welcome move of government as recently it has turned down proposal of using UAV's for aerial surveillance, by giving security reasons.  In addition to this, a rapid action team will also be deployed