Guwahati:

A total of 31 animals have died so far due to drowning, while 82 others have been rescued from flood waters in the worst deluge in recent years inside the famed Kaziranga National Park, a park official said on Thursday.

The animal mortality includes 23 hog deer due to drowning in the Park and 15 during treatment.

The forest officials rescued 73 hog deer, two otters, two sambar deer, a scops owl, one rhino calf, an Indian hare and a jungle cat.

Currently, 20 animals are under treatment, while 31 others have been released after treatment, the official said.

A total of 11 animals had died due to drowning, while 65 others were rescued from the flood waters of the severely affected park till Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a Royal Bengal Tiger strayed into a neighbouring village in the Nagaon district from the flooded park and forest officials were trying to tranquilise the animal.

Police personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident, and control the people as panic gripped the village area.

Two persons were arrested for allegedly consuming venison, likely deer which had strayed from the Northern range of the Park in the Biswanath district.

Out of the total 233 camps in the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, 95 were still inundated till Thursday evening as against the 141 during the day, the official said.

Forest department employees, including security personnel, stay in these camps inside the national park to conduct patrolling to protect the flora and fauna.

In the Eastern or Agoratoli range, 12 of the 34 camps have been inundated, while 31 of the 58 camps in the central range, 33 out of the 39 in the Western or Bagori range, eight out of the 25 in Burapahar and three out of the nine in Bokakhat were under flood waters.

Altogether seven camps have been vacated by the forest personnel so far – two in the central range, three in Bokakhat, and one each in Biswanath and Nagaon wildlife divisions.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kaziranga, Assam:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the elephant and the jeep safari at Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve this morning, an official said.

PM Modi, on his maiden visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, first took the elephant safari in Mihimukh area of the Central Kohora Range of the park followed by the jeep safari inside the same range.

He was accompanied by park director Sonali Ghosh and other senior forest officials.

This morning I was at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. Nestled amidst lush greenery, this UNESCO World Heritage site is blessed with diverse flora and fauna including the majestic one horned rhinoceros. pic.twitter.com/68NEtoGAoz

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 9, 2024

The Prime Minister had arrived at Kaziranga on Friday evening on a two-day visit to the state.

He is also scheduled to inaugurate the 125-ft high ‘Statue of Valour’ of legendary Ahom general Lachit Barphukan in Jorhat in the afternoon.

The Prime Minister will then proceed to Meleng Meteli Pothar, also in Jorhat district, where he will inaugurate and lay foundation stones of both central and state projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore.

He is also scheduled to address a public meeting at the same venue.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Golaghat, Assam:

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Assam, one lakh diyas were lighted on Thursday by the people of Bokakhat in Golaghat district to welcome him.

PM Modi for the first time will visit UNESCO heritage site Kaziranga National Park and undertake a safari. PM will also stay there overnight.

PM Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of several development projects for Assam, including Rs 3,992 crore project of pipeline from Barauni to Guwahati on Saturday as part of his two-day visit to the state.

PM will lay the foundation stone for the expansion of Digboi Refinery from 0.65 Million MT to 1 Million MT with a cost of Rs 768 crores. He will also lay the foundation stone of the expansion of Guwahati Refinery from 1 million MT to 1.2 million MT with a cost of Rs 510 crore.

Prime Minister will also address a rally at Meleng Meteli and inaugurate several projects of both centre and state government.

In addition, PM Modi would perform the ‘Griha Pravesh‘ (house-warming) ceremony for the 5.5 lakh houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), lay the foundation stone of Sivasagar Medical College.

In view of PM Modi’s visit to Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam, the jeep safari and elephant ride will remain closed in the Kaziranga range of Kohora from March 7 to 9.