Tourists at Ranthambhore are going to be disappointed from Friday onwards as the tour guides, jeep owners, hoteliers and resort owners have decided to go on a strike and put a lock on the main gates of the park. This comes after various associations claimed of the forest department is discriminating between the association members and favoring one particular hotelier. When the association members approached the Chief Conservator of Forest, he also allegedly did not do anything in the matter and the situation remained the same. Following this, the associations decided upon going on a strike thereby affecting the drives in the park.
Named as the Ranthambhore Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, it involves the hotel association, travel agent association, vehicle owners association, nature guide association and driver association.
In their letter handed over to the CCF and Field Director of Ranthambhore, YK Sahu, the Samiti had mentioned that the level of tourism in Ranthambhore is going down with passage of time.
The letter states, “The current policies of the government are hampering tourism and tourists are not getting tickets for safari. The forest department’s policy of allowing its choice of vehicles for safari should be ended.”
Goverdhan Singh, president of Hotel Association told DNA, “This has been going on for the past seven months and we, from the hotel association, jeep owners association, guide association have been in constant touch with our local MLA, forest minister, forest secretary and asking them why is the system being changed. Tourism in Ranthambhore is going at a good pace and there has been no negative effect over wildlife. There were zones where not a single animal could be seen but now these zones have tigers, partly due to tourism related activities. Tourism should be regulated properly and it can not be given a free hand.”
Singh added, “We have asked the department in a letter as to why changes are introduced in peak season when tourists have already made their bookings. Those involved in tourism industry should be included in framing the policies. Favourtism happens, people with contacts are favored, those who have power are supported. Why not form a quota for such VIP tourists. It pains us to see why someone is favored over others. The forest minister assured us some action would be taken but nothing has happened. How bad does it look when a guest stands in line at 12 noon, foregoing their lunch, stand in the booking line for hours and around 4 pm they find out that they wont be getting any jeep for safari.”
Letter Sent
Named as Ranthambhore Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, it involves hotel association, travel agent association, vehicle owners association, nature guide association and driver association. In a letter handed over to CCF and Field Director of Ranthambhore, YK Sahu, Samiti says the level of tourism in Ranthambhore is going down.
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