Environment
Bhubaneswar puts efforts to become an eco-tourism hotspot
Odisha government has proposed to connect three major forests in and around Bhubaneswar by bus service. The aim is optimisation of the city’s eco-tourism potential by showcasing Bhubaneswar’s eco-tourism assets. Under this scheme, tourists buses will ply to Nandankanan Biological Park and Chudanga and Bharatpur forests of the Chandaka division. A fleet of buses will be deployed to undertake the tourists visit to the three forests. Odisha government is also planning to create two more safaris in Chudanga Reserve Forest (2 kms away from city) and Bharatpur Reserve Forest (almost within the capital city). The Forest department said such packaged ecotourism tours would require minimal investment. Nandankanan Biological Park houses a botanical garden spread over 173 acres and a rich captive zoo population. With an underpass on Khurda- Baranga bypass road the botanical garden can be connected with Chudanga. The Nandankanan Biological Park is sprawling over 437 hectares attracting tourists in large numbers. The Bharatpur Reserve Forest covering an area of 1,000 hectares, a part of Chandka-Dompara Sanctuary, is also a natural forest within Bhubaneswar. It boasts of Asiatic elephants, wild pigs, deer, hyena and pangolin as well as several attractive water-bodies.
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