Haryana government on Thursday said that it intends to develop the world’s largest jungle safari park in an area of 10,000 acres of land in the Aravalli mountain range of Gurugram and Nuh districts. Currently, the largest curated safari park outside Africa is in Sharjah which was opened in February this year in an area of about 2000 acres.
The proposed Aravalli Park would be five times more than the size of Sharjah safari and would include a large herpetarium, bird park, four zones for big cats, a large area for herbivores, an area for exotic animal birds, an underwater world, nature trails, visitors, tourism zones, botanical gardens, biomes, equatorial, tropical, coastal, desert, etc.
In this regard, Union Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar along with the delegation had visited Sharjah Jungle Safari.
Chief Minister Khattar said the National Capital Region (NCR) of Haryana has immense potential to have a jungle safari. After the implementation of the Jungle Safari scheme, not only will tourism in the state get a big boost but it will also provide ample employment opportunities to the local people.
“The Jungle Safari project of Haryana would be a joint project of the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change and the government of Haryana. Under a scheme, the Central government will also provide funds to Haryana for this project,” he said.
He said that an international expression of interest (EOI) was floated for the project and two companies with international experience in designing and operating such facilities have been shortlisted. The said companies will now compete in an international design competition for the designing, overseeing and operating of the park. An Aravalli Foundation will be set up which will manage the project, he added.
The CM said that the Central Zoo Authority has done an evaluation study of the area for this and has agreed upon the technical feasibility of setting up such a park. He said that on one hand developing jungle safari would help in preserving this mountain range, while on the other a large number of people from Delhi and adjoining areas would come here for tourism, he said.
He said that villagers in the surrounding villages will benefit from the Home Stay Policy.
The Aravalli mountain range is a cultural heritage where many species of birds, wild animals, butterflies, etc., are found. As per a survey conducted a few years ago, 180 species of birds, 15 species of mammals, 29 species of aquatic animals and reptiles and 57 species of butterflies inhabit the Aravalli mountain range.