Kambalakonda Reserve Forest awaits a facelift

[swas]

On a sprawling 7,146 hectares on National Highway 5 lies the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary. This reserve forest is one of the major green zones in the city, complete with green hills, forests and a reservoir. Once upon a time, it would attract adventure aficionados, nature and wildlife lovers, bird watchers and photographers. But now, only cupid-struck couples and truant students frequent the eco-park. The AP Forest Department now plans to develop the park within a year.

Earlier, the park had a lot to offer to visitors including rope gliding across the river, boating facilities, trekking tracks, breathtaking view point offering views of the seas, hills and forests and had several species of endemic flora and fauna. But now, no paddle boats could be spotted at the reservoir, the ropeway across the river also has not been functioning for more than a couple of years, the viewpoint has also crumbled and visitors aren't allowed atop. Almost all the animal enclosures are empty and except for some swans, none of the animals mentioned in the board can be sighted. There are no guides to take visitors through the trekking trails and explain about the Modiversity in the area. Instead, couples are found cuddling and cosying up in every nook and corner of the forest oblivious to their surroundings.

Srichakra Pranav, a visitor who recently went for nature photography to the park, complained, "When I asked for a ticket in the counter, I was refused one and was told 'a single person can't enter the park. Either you should come with a girlfriend or friend. It's ridiculous. The so-called eco park has turned out to be a lovers' spot and a drinking sit out and not serving any real tourism and educative purpose."

According to Appal Raju, a staffer at the ticket counter, the park gets around 100 couples on weekdays and 200-300 on weekends which includes some families too. For adults, each ticket cost Rs 20.

P Ramachandra, a visitor from Madhurawada, pointed out that hardly any bird or animal could be spotted. "Earlier, I could see some peacocks and other birds but now, it's really disappointing for bird lovers." 

 

According to the display board, Kambalakonda houses animals such as the spotted dear, jackals, Indian leopard, civet, rabbits, mongoose, a few varieties of snakes and birds among others.

 

 

P Santosh, an environment activist said, "It has also been found that even though the park should close by 4.30-5.00 pm, couples stay back beyond the permissible hours and come out of the gate after 6 pm."

 

When contacted, B Dhananjay Rao, district forest officer (DFO), said, "Since we hadn't received the adequate funds so far and March was year-ending, we couldn't commence the development project at Kamabalakonda reserve forest. But now, with World Bank fund of Rs 1.29 crore sanctioned, we have a number of plans for re-building the eco-park on international standard."Elaborating on these, Rao said, "With the funds, we plan to build a natural trekking path, circulation tanks, jetty, desilt the check dams, repair the river crossing unit or the ropeway, get new fibre boats and life jackets, ensure essential amenities for visitors, install a chained mesh around the park to prevent escape of deer or other animals and set up streetlights and fire-fighting equipment. We have already submitted the project report. Hopefully, we can complete these within a year."