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Lal Suhanra Park requires facilities to boost tourism

* Few tourists despite natural habitat of blackbucks, Lion Safari, children’s park, tourist resort
* Park official says lack of transport hurdle to tourism industry

By Ali Usman

BAHAWALPUR: The Lal Suhanra National Park, built upon an area of 127,480 acres, has great potential for tourist activities, but is not attracting a large number of visitors as it lacks even the most basic facilities.

The park lies at a distance of 35 kilometres from Bahawalpur. A children park, a Lion Safari jungle, a tourist resort, and breeding site for blackbuck deer comprise the park holdings.

Potential: Blackbucks are found in large numbers at their breeding point, as it is the natural habitat for the animals of the region. It is the only representative of the genus ‘antelope’, with its striking colour and beautifully spiraled horns.

The Lion Safari consists of 13 kilometres of jungle where previously lions were kept. However, these were sent to the Bahawalpur Zoo and now the sarafi comprises lush jungles but has no exotic animals. The park’s serenity and scenic beauty, coupled with rustling sounds of trees and flowing water, can potentially attract a large number of tourists. The children’s park is used to keep animals and floral arrangements. “The children’s park houses several animals such as wolves, sand grouses, chinkaras, black patridges and houbara bustards. Animals from Cholistan Desert are often brought here,” a park official said. “In a national park, a fallen tree cannot be removed. The state of the nature cannot be altered and nothing artificial can be done,” he added.

Park officials: Another park official, on condition of anonymity, told Daily Times the park lacked proper infrastructure. He said the lack of transportation barred tourists from visiting. He said the park’s administration had never allocated funds for advertisement. He said a proposal of the Safari Train was once initiated at the park but it was never completed. He said there was no transport facility to reach the breeding point of blackbucks, adding that resultantly the park never received much popularity. Lal Suhanra National Park Assistant Director Muhammad Iftikhar said people ‘knew’ about the park so advertisement was not required. He said the number of visitors remained around 500 at average, including several school trips.

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