Manas National Park to open for tourists from tomorrow

Manas National Park in Barpeta district of Assam will open for tourists from tomorrow, a senior park official said here today.
A large number of tourists are expected to visit the World Heritage Site for its natural beauty and wild animals, including tigers, rhinos, pigmy hogs, MNP Project Director Anindya Swargiary said.
With Manas National Park being discussed on the eve of World Environment Day in London next month, Swargiary said the inflow of tourists this time would increase in the Park which has regained its former glory that had dimmed for some years due to insurgency.
The 500 sq km MNP, situated on the foothills of the Himalayas with a part of it extending to Bhutan, was declared a Forest Reserve in 1905, a Wild Life Sanctuary in 1928, a Tiger Project and Tiger Reserve in 1973, designated as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1985, a Biosphere Reserve in 1989 and then as a National Park and in 2003.

Though MNP was declared a 'World Heritage Site in Danger' due to poaching and insurgency problem, he said in 2011 it was removed from that list owing to its commendable efforts in preservation.