Want to purchase unique paintings on wild life and nature !

Would like to Chill out in a coffee bar/hookah bar !

Talk about nature love !

Are fond of Pasta and Muffins !

If you are a traveler and not just a tourist !

Bankriti Art Gallery and Cafe

….a meeting point for lovers of art and nature !

We are not saying this !

Almost everyone who visits Bankriti says that !

Bankriti offers :

Wild Life paintings

Prints as souvenirs

Cappuccino

Muffins

Cakes

Pasta

Hookah

Main Corbett Road….Dhikuli

Check it out !!!

Bankriti is a meeting point for lovers of art and nature !

Poor communication and signage

A thing that strikes you the most is the ‘potent’ silence on the part of park authorities !

No …or very very poor signage and notice boards.

No mechanism for information dissemination in a user-friendly manner

While driving from Ramnagar to Dhangarhi or….from R N  to Jhirna….a tourist can hardly see any informative/exciting sign boards.

The boards that are there….are old and hardly noticeable !

Suddenly , when you are reaching Dhangarhi…..a barrage of notices do appear….but they are repititive…..and extremely oblique……the language should be simple !!!!!

In the platinum jubilee year….where is the celebration mood ???

Inside Dhangarhi Gate

Correct and meanigful Information is the key to promoting Eco Tourism !

But who is providing this….in Corbett National Park ?

Government/Park authorities ?

NO….There are a few brochures in the CTR office but the entire focus of tourists , guides, safari operators is on PERMITS….so the information gets lost somewhere !

The Dhangarhi museum is an attempt….but pretty dull….drab and archaic…

Resorts /Hotels ?

All the hotels , resorts etc. etc. have a naturalist/safari desk….but then why do tourists not seem to be adequately enthused/informed !

Naturalists/wild lifers/safari operators ?

There is a semblance of information dissemination here as well….but the REAL THING gets lost in the hype about alarm calls , pug marks and sightings !

So ???

In order to convert the tourists into travelers    …… and make them enthused about eco tourism and Nature love….. who has to put up their hand (S) ?

Maybe we shall do this in our own modest way !

Bhaskar-Bankriti are soon going to start an ECO TOURISM MEETING POINT  in Corbett region !

Please send us your suggestions and good wishes !

Take a few examples :

No ‘official’ information disseminitation mechanism

Lacklustre ‘delivery’ at the Dhangarhi Gate Museum

No ‘easy to read’ literature with resorts / government/ travel trade…..only historical rhetoric

Naturalists and wild life travel experts are suffering from  ’safari syndrome’!

As said earlier, USP , unwittingly is TIGER SIGHTING….and no one in the tourism administration/trade willing to change it !

What a gross injustice to the finest Nature Reserves in India ….world ???

It is alarming to note the number of vehicles speeding past….honking their horns….on the main road right outside the National Park ( near Dhikuli )

It is true that it is a National Highway !

What can be done !!!! ( Common lament of all and sundry )

Well….

At least a few things can be thought of :

Speed regulation on the ten Km. stretch from Ramnagar to Dhangarhi gate ( Putting up road speed sign boards is not going to do anything ….unless the traffic regulation is in place )

Enforcement of NO HORN during certain hours

Walkway on the road / next to the road/ alongside the road… for tourists !!! Tourists are fed up of being cooped up in the resorts !

An information counter for wild life and eco travel on the main Dhikuli Road…..this would be a great boon for ‘lost’ tourists and would also encourage tourists to venture out and ‘in a way’  this would ‘enforce’ safe driving !!!

More suggestions are welcome….

mail :

bhaskarbenjamin@gmail.com

is not right !

The USP , somehow , is TIGER SIGHTING

This is , probably , the root cause of many problems !

Fact is :

Due to the particular  topography & contours of the park , tiger sighting……and even wild life sighting in general….is not as easy as in many other wild life parks/sanctuaries !

People do not know this…..and they are not educated on this crucial fact !

Another fact is :

Corbett is , probably the best nature reserve in India….at least….the jungle is amazing and a nature lovers’ paradise !!! This fact is not promoted…..this could be the apt USP of Corbett.

Maybe…..maybe…..by doing this simple thing…… RE-POSITIONING Corbett…..as marketing pundits would like to call it… many maladies of ‘undesirable impact’ of tourism may be corrected !

Well almost everyone !!!

Are they wrong ?

YES and NO

As the scenario is…and this grim reality is growing….it is turning into a fun-and tiger sighting destination !

Commercial realities are given as the ‘obvious excuse’

BUT

The reality is ….thankfully…..slightly different !

Nature Lovers come to Corbett….but the TOURISM ENVIRONMENT , somehow….is not conducive in satisfying the needs of Nature Lovers ! ( Well as a generalisation )

Let Us Correct This !

Let Us change the USP of Corbett !!!

Not only that ….quite a lot of FUNDERS’ money thru academicians and NGOs has been spent on studies….many dollars/rupees are right now being spent !

Many learned findings have been presented !

The irony is :

What does the tiger think of all this !

And a passing thought :

While tourists come to Corbett National Park with a sole objective of tiger sighting….people who live in sensitive areas in/near the forest, DO NOT EVER, want any such sighting !!!

And….probably the tiger too…..does not wish to see humans…..unless he/she is a man-eater !

What ….in this case…..can be the best way to go…..for an eco tourist !!!! Or is ECO TOURISM a mere FAD ?