Finally after a month’s time, I guess, was meeting my friend Neha. I had promised myself when the rains had started in June that, I would not stay at home on holidays, but instead would be out to enjoy nature and its beauty. So I asked her to come down to Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), thinking I could be with her as well as enjoy the greens.
For a change I reached the SGNP gate, the place where I was suppose to meet her, on time. I decided to wait there as she was going to take some more time to reach. In moments I realised that the path from the main gate till the ticket counter was no less than any other junction of a city. It was jam packed with vehicles on a Sunday evening at 5.00pm. Shocked at the sight of the number of vehicles, I reminded myself that I was at the entrance of the only forest in the city.
I wondered how could we allow these hundreds of vehicles inside the park which is spread across 103.09 square kilometers covering two cities and was home to more than 1000 species of plants, 40 species of mammals, 150 species of butterflies, 250 species of birds and 36 species of herpetofauna.
The visitors were obviously entering the park to spend a good time with nature. I wondered, if they wanted to be with nature what was the need for traveling on a four wheeler when they could easily walk the stretch surrounded by trees and sounds of the birds. Weren’t they losing out the fun of enjoying the nature’s gift in the form of lush greenery and birds around?
After my friend arrived we started walking to enjoy the transformation which had taken place in the park after the monsoon had arrived. I wanted to be with the greenery while we talked on anything and everything.
As we started walking, we realised there was little peace which we could enjoy, thanks to the continous honking by the cars. I simply hated it but despite this we continued our walk for the next half an hour. I was taken aback to know that people found the roads inside national park safe enough to learn driving , but I wondered why this place? While returning from the same path, I realised some youngsters even had music system on in their cars with a deafening sound. I really fail to understand the need for a music system with high decibel of noise level in the park. Can’t they simply just be with the forest?
I called up few friends, who told me this was a common sight during holidays. I was disappointed.
I wish these vehicles were stopped at the entrance and were given cycles to go inside the park. Not only we would have reduced the pollution taking place inside the park, but the number of people going for a ‘picnic’ inside the park would have also reduced drastically.
By saying all this, it doesn’t mean I don’t want people to use cars or listen to music at high decibel levels. The only point I wished was, let’s leave this green zone alone. We have the rest part of the city to drive to listen to music, but definitely this park is not for driving or for music.
The city has already been polluted a lot, let’s leave this place alone. Pls.
For a change I reached the SGNP gate, the place where I was suppose to meet her, on time. I decided to wait there as she was going to take some more time to reach. In moments I realised that the path from the main gate till the ticket counter was no less than any other junction of a city. It was jam packed with vehicles on a Sunday evening at 5.00pm. Shocked at the sight of the number of vehicles, I reminded myself that I was at the entrance of the only forest in the city.
I wondered how could we allow these hundreds of vehicles inside the park which is spread across 103.09 square kilometers covering two cities and was home to more than 1000 species of plants, 40 species of mammals, 150 species of butterflies, 250 species of birds and 36 species of herpetofauna.
The visitors were obviously entering the park to spend a good time with nature. I wondered, if they wanted to be with nature what was the need for traveling on a four wheeler when they could easily walk the stretch surrounded by trees and sounds of the birds. Weren’t they losing out the fun of enjoying the nature’s gift in the form of lush greenery and birds around?
After my friend arrived we started walking to enjoy the transformation which had taken place in the park after the monsoon had arrived. I wanted to be with the greenery while we talked on anything and everything.
As we started walking, we realised there was little peace which we could enjoy, thanks to the continous honking by the cars. I simply hated it but despite this we continued our walk for the next half an hour. I was taken aback to know that people found the roads inside national park safe enough to learn driving , but I wondered why this place? While returning from the same path, I realised some youngsters even had music system on in their cars with a deafening sound. I really fail to understand the need for a music system with high decibel of noise level in the park. Can’t they simply just be with the forest?
I called up few friends, who told me this was a common sight during holidays. I was disappointed.
I wish these vehicles were stopped at the entrance and were given cycles to go inside the park. Not only we would have reduced the pollution taking place inside the park, but the number of people going for a ‘picnic’ inside the park would have also reduced drastically.
By saying all this, it doesn’t mean I don’t want people to use cars or listen to music at high decibel levels. The only point I wished was, let’s leave this green zone alone. We have the rest part of the city to drive to listen to music, but definitely this park is not for driving or for music.
The city has already been polluted a lot, let’s leave this place alone. Pls.
Shub, I think we are a minority. Just try implementing a system asking people to go on foot / by cycle and they will be up in arms. I too have noticed people dancing to bawdy songs blaring from their cars near water bodies where we go for watching birds. They are not so keen on the sounds of nature. Tastes differ I guess - Jency
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