Tiger body seeks report on Amraband

The massive ecotourism project taken up by the Tourism department inside Amrabad Tiger Reserve is expected to come under the scanner of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). It may be recalled that the Tourism Department has taken up construction of a glassbottomed cantilevered walkway at Farbahad Viewpoint inside the tiger reserve.

It is learnt that NTCA will now seek a factual report from the State Forest Department on permissions given for construction of the latest ‘ecotourism’ attraction. The construction on the glass-bottomed walkway, meant to provide a thrill of walking on air over the escarpment at Farhabad Viewpoint, is expected to cost between `1 crore and `1.5 crore. The walkway will extend eight metres from the edge of the rocky ledge at the spot and is designed to be eight feet wide.

The walkway is part of a slew of ‘ecotourism’ initiatives launched by the

Tourism department in and around the tiger reserve. The department says that all activities have the go-ahead from State Forest Department.

They recently inaugurated a Haritha hotel right at the border of the core area of the reserve near Mannanur village, which marks the beginning of the tiger reserve. The village itself is an ‘enclosure’ in the reserve, which, according to experts, falls in an ecosensitive zone of the tiger reserve. However, Supreme Court guidelines for ecotourism activities inside tiger reserves in the country, prohibit any new construction activity inside the reserves.