Kaziranga National Park gears up for flood season

Authorities of Kaziranga National Park in Assam's Golghat district started preparations to tackle the seasonal floods. The park is shut in May and will reopen in November. This national park is a UNESCO world heritage site which is home to the world's largest one-horned rhino population.

Golghat: With the Brahmaputra river flowing above the danger level, owing to the torrential rains, officials of the Kaziranga National Park have made all the necessary preparations to tackle the flood season.

Usually, the officials of the park, situated in Assam's Golghat district, shut it down for the tourists in May, so that they can prepare for the flood season which starts from June onwards.

This national park is a UNESCO world heritage site which is home to the world's largest one-horned rhino population. The park again reopens in November.

The Park Director P Shiv Kumar said: "We are ready for the flood season. We have completed repairing all the 200 highlands inside the park where the animals can take shelter. Meetings were held with NGOs working in and around the park as well as with the local villagers so that the animals can be saved and helped during a high flood like situation."

Kaziranga is bound by the Brahmaputra river on its northern end which is flowing above the danger level at Nimatighat and Dhansiri. According to the Central Water Commission (CWC) informed that the Jia Bharali river is also overflowing at few places in Sonipur district.

There have been rains in the upper catchment areas in Arunachal Pradesh. So the directors are excepting the flood water to enter the park by Tuesday. But the rainwater from Arunachal Pradesh take at least 48 hours to reach the park and they have taken all necessary precautions to deal with the situation.

Another senior park official said, "We have also started implementing a speed limit on the National Highway 37 that touches the southern boundary of the park. The vehicles passing through the park area from Jakhalabandha to Numaligarh have been asked to keep their speed limit maximum to 40 km/hr so that no animal is hit while crossing the road."

During the high floods, some animals cross the highway to go to the higher grounds in Karbi Anglong district which is on the other side of the NH37.

In the 2017 floods, over 360 animals drowned due to the floods in Kaziranga, of which 31 were rhinos, according to official data.

This was the highest toll of rhinos in the last three years due to flooding and not poaching.