A world-class 3800 hectares jungle safari will soon be started in the Aravalli mountain range in the Gurugram district.

During his visit to Gurugram, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav held a discussion with officers of the forest and tourism department and gave necessary directions to the officials regarding the aforesaid project.

Presiding over the meeting, the CM directed the officers of the department of Haryana to work on the project in a planned manner by preparing a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

Khattar said a committee should be constituted to develop a world-class jungle safari, in which the deputy commissioners of Gurugram and Nuh and concerned panchayat development officers should also be included besides the officials of the tourism and forest departments.

He said the complete blueprint of the project should be prepared and implemented in a phased manner in which the timeline will be fixed for each phase.

The CM said to start the project jungle safari, suggestions should be sought from world-class experts and global tenders should be invited after the project’s outline is ready. He said that developing a jungle safari will help in preserving this mountain range, while on the other hand, a large number of people from Delhi and adjoining areas will visit the place for tourism purposes, which would further create employment opportunities for the local people. Villagers in the surrounding villages will also get benefits under the homestay policy.

In this meeting, officials of the forest department demonstrated through a PowerPoint presentation that the Aravalli mountain range is a cultural heritage where various species of birds, wild animals, butterflies, etc are found. According to a survey conducted a few years back, 180 species of birds, 15 species of mammals, reptiles, 29 species of aquatic animals, and 57 species of butterflies exist in the Aravalli mountain range.

In this presentation, about 3800 hectares (10,000 acres) of land falling in the Aravalli mountain range of Gurugram and Nuh districts has been proposed for Jungle Safari.

Union minister Yadav, who was present in the meeting, said that while preparing the jungle safari project, a place should also be identified for the parking of vehicles of tourists.

He said that people enjoying jungle safari will visit using battery-operated vehicles so that the environment of the Aravalli mountain range would not be destroyed.

Yadav assured any approval regarding the project would be taken on a priority basis.