Achal Dhruva tracks the potential of wildlife tourism in Maharashtra

Mumbai city, used to the periodic muscle-flexing by the ‘political tiger’ ‘Shiv Sena’ (visage of the tiger is the party symbol) has been in a tizzy of excitement since the recent sighting of the majestic beast on the periphery of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (Borivali-western suburb), the only National Park within city limits.

The tiger was spotted at Sasupada village at the Nagla block off the Vasai (Bassein) creek, some 50 kilometres from the city and is believed to have come from the Dang forest in Gujarat through the Tungareshwar area. The 20 minutes of footage of the roaming animal recorded by Mayur Niranjan Kamath, a polymer engineer and wildlife enthusiast, and the confirmation by the Dehra Dun-based Wildlife Institute of India on the examination of pugmarks and droppings has made environmentalists and nature lovers in the city ecstatic.

The large amount of print space accorded to the sighting in major newspapers has also generated a great amount of public interest. The last tiger reported to have been seen in the city was shot dead near Vihar Lake (eastern city suburb) on January 22, 1929. Experts believe tigers probably survived in the Mumbai forests till the 1940s. Today it can be viewed in the city in captivity - either at the Jijamata Udyan or Byculla Zoo or at the Tiger Safari at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

While the presence of the tiger and its offspring has injected new vigour to the demands of the environmentalist lobby to declare Sanjay Gandhi National Park as a sanctuary, it has also resurrected the important and larger question regarding wildlife tourism in the state.

Maharashtra boasts of five national parks, three game reserves (including two Project Tiger Reserves, Melghat and Tadoba) and 24 wildlife/bird sanctuaries, despite the fact that the total area under forest cover is only 17 per cent. Majority of the forests are in the eastern region and dotting the foothills of the Sahyadri Range.

The diverse types of forests have a rich wealth of flora and fauna, which include animals like tigers, leopards, jackals, sloth bears, striped hyenas, a host of herbivorous species like Sambar, chital, bison and a number of reptile species. In fact, over the years, the numbers of big cats like the tiger and leopard have shown a healthy increase.

In its recent research reports, the Kolhapur Wildlife Division (south-western Maharashtra) stated that wildlife in Radhanagari, Sagareshwar, Chandolee and Koyna sanctuaries during the months of April and May has increased with four tigers found in Radhanagari and five and six found in Chandolee and Koyna respectively.

Pitfalls

Despite its wealth of forests, the state has till date not managed to capitalise on the wildlife tourism potential. A number of reasons have been ascribed for this failure. According to Prithviraj Patil, general manager, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), the main handicap for promoting wildlife tourism in the state has been its sheer size. "Nearly 80 per cent of the forest cover is in the Vidharbha region and the major national parks and sanctuaries are located here, approximately 800-1,000 kilometres from Mumbai, the main port of entry to the state," stated Patil.

Besides, he also felt that impression of the people and lack of information and publicity of the wildlife assets have been contributing factors for the lack of development of wildlife/eco-tourism in the state. He said, "Each state develops one or two tourism facets as its USP. Madhya Pradesh has laid heavy emphasis on wildlife and hence the impression created is that the state is synonymous with wildlife tourism. Maharashtra has so far focused on heritage (Ajanta and Ellora) and cultural/religious tourism. It is the impression of the people that is vital."

The state hasn’t highlighted its flora, fauna and local culture enough, which is important for the development of wildlife/eco-tourism. A case in point is that Sanjay Gandhi National Park alone has more species of butterflies than the entire United Kingdom put together. This and other attractions of our forests need to be highlighted and publicised.

Observers also point out lack of infrastructure in the Vidharbha region as a major deterrent for the promotion of wildlife tourism. Even after reaching Nagpur which, observers opine, should be developed as a major tourism hub to promote wildlife tourism, accessibility to the sanctuaries is a problem. While the western region is advanced in terms of infrastructure it has very few sanctuaries of note like the Bhimashankar, Borivali National Park and Radhanagari near Kolhapur.

Lack of accommodation on the outskirts of National Parks and Sanctuaries has been another major deterent for any kind of growth of wildlife tourism in the state. MTDC only has accommodation facility in Chikaldhara, a hill station near Melghat Tiger Reserve and at Radhanagari on the outskirts of the core area of the Radhanagari-Dajipur Bison Sanctuary. The Corporation had taken over the wooden log huts of the Forest Department in ’89-’90 on rent to promote tourism but gave up after a period of five years.

According to sources in MTDC, the rent was too high and running the facility was economically unviable. The outcome, the sources allege, was due to the lack of co-operation on part of the forest department. Sources also claimed that the recently instated Forest Development Corporation which had a mandate to develop the periphery of the core forest area for tourism, needed to be more active and come up with joint ventures with tourism corporations for developing and promoting wildlife tourism in the state. Observers, citing the example of Madhya Pradesh, pointed out that the need of the hour was to tap wildlife tourism potential by having various departments like those of culture and forest working in tandem with the Corporation.

Initiatives

Over the past few years, the state government has jumped on the tourism fast track. Besides an outlay of Rs 101 crore for tourism in this year’s budget, for the first time ever wildlife tourism found mention in the state finance minister’s budget speech.

Jayant Patil, state finance minister, said in this speech, "Large areas of Vidharbha are under forest cover and the region is well suited for development of wild life and eco-tourism. It is proposed to develop special wild life tourism zones with strong private sector participation. The MTDC will acquire land outside the wildlife sanctuaries and offer it for development. A provision of Rs five crore has been proposed for the year 2003-04 for this purpose. The development of wild life eco-tourism in Vidharbha will contribute significantly to employment generation in the tribal dominated forest areas of Vidharbha."

MTDC has recently taken steps to promote adventure and wildlife tourism, especially in the Nagpur belt. It has joined hands with neighbouring MP in this direction. MP has the reputation of being the leader in the wildlife tourism charge, owing to the global popularity of the Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger sanctuaries. Maharashtra has Tadoba and Melghat to offer. Both are relatively bigger but have neither been developed nor marketed strongly.

The state has identified many sanctuaries and pockets of thickly forested areas which could be developed and promoted as adventure and wildlife tourism zones. MTDC has embarked upon a project to promote wildlife tourism and is setting up Jungle Lodges on the outskirts of National Parks and Sanctuaries. Jungle Lodges Moharli, near Tadoba, was built recently at a cost of approximately Rs one crore and took two years to complete.

The property, comprising of 15 double bedded rooms and restaurant, started operations this summer. The tariff is pegged at Rs 525 per day up to September and Rs 750 from October onwards. Packages from October are currently being worked out. Work is already underway at Ramtek, close to Melghat Tiger Reserve, for the construction of an additional 16 rooms.

A Jungle Lodge with 15 double bedded rooms, restaurant and a Nature Interpretation Centre is nearing completion at Pench-Silari. The facility, built at a cost of Rs 75 lakh, will be operational in the coming season (October). The other major project in the pipeline for promotion of wildlife tourism is slated for Bhor Dam, on the outskirts of Bhor Wildlife Sanctuary, near Nagpur. The project cost is Rs 62 lakh. MTDC is slowly but surely focusing on the development and promotion of wildlife tourism. The luxury train, Deccan Odyssey slated for an October launch with a scheduled stop at Nagpur will also provide an opportunity and impetus to promote wildlife tourism in the region.

Tour Operators need a nudge

Wildlife tourism in the state as far as awareness and priority is concerned is pretty low down the order for travel and tour operators, even major domestic players. According to Sudhir Patil, director, Kesari Tours Pvt Ltd, a major travel and tour operator based in Mumbai, the lack of infrastructure has been the main reason for wildlife tourism failing to take off in the state. "There is hardly any accommodation available at our National Parks and Sanctuaries. The need of the hour is not just accommodation but resorts with swimming pools and other ancillary activities for a complete holiday experience," stated Patil.

He also felt that the jeep safaris in the National Parks and Sanctuaries were not up to the mark and the wildlife experience as far as sighting was concerned also left the common tourist unsatisfied. The tiger reserves in the state are bigger than the ones in MP and the density of tiger population in the tourist zones of Maharashtra’s Tiger reserves is far less than those of MP resulting in fewer tiger sighting. Besides, in Patil’s opinion, there is absolute lack of information about our wildlife attractions.

"Most tour operators don’t know about the state’s abundant wildlife. The state should organise FAM tours. Someone has to take the initiative. Seeing is believing and when you have seen a destination and liked it, there is a tendency to promote it," said Patil. Shoeb Kader, partner, Indian Adventures Wildlife Resorts, a premier wildlife resort chain based in Mumbai with properties at Bandhavgarh, Kanha (MP), Ranthambhore (Rajasthan) and Dandeli (Karnataka), opined that most sanctuaries and parks were off the main tourist circuit.

"While Pench comes in the orbit of the tourist circuit of Nagpur-Kanha, there is no proper accommodation available nor are there elephants for wildlife sighting. Pench is on the border with the forest area distributed in MP and Maharashtra. While MP has been aggressively promoting Pench, Maharashtra state government has now begun piggy back riding on MP’s efforts to promote wildlife tourism on its side and has tied up with MP to develop activities like white water rafting etc," informed Kader.

According to Kader while Melghat is not on the main tourist sector even Chikaldhara nearby has not been developed as a domestic destination. He feels that both should be developed and sold jointly. His argument is that if people are offered a great product they don’t mind travelling. "Kanha did not become popular overnight. It’s a chain reaction and the efforts have to start at the state government level. Maharashtra government has done nothing to encourage private enterprenuers. Despite being based out of Mumbai, we receive regular calls from the Chattisgarh government for guided tours and to set up properties there. The state should offer sops for private operators to set up properties and popularise the destination," explained Kader.

Conclusion

Wildlife tourism is part of adventure tourism, which is presently the world’s fastest growing segment. While the World Travel Mart figures peg the global growth of adventure tourism at 35 per cent compared to 12 per cent for cultural tourism, the segment in India, according to Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI), registered a growth of 20 per cent last year and is valued at Rs 300 core. With the increasing fold of middle and upper-middle class who have a high disposable income and a penchant for a holidaying, interest and scope for wildlife/eco-tourism in the domestic sector is bound to grow manifold in the years to come.