June 29: Chitwan National Park (CNP) has banned on tourism activities, including commercial jungle driving, within the park effective from July 1 until further notice.

The decision to ban jungle drives, also known as safaris, was made to prevent potential damage to the forest tracks, flooding of small streams within the jungle, road blockages caused by fallen trees, and to mitigate the risk of human casualties during the monsoon season.

According to the CNP Administration, a notice has been issued outlining the prohibition of other tourism activities, including boating, within the park. Ganesh Prasad Tiwari, the Information Officer of CNP, stated that a total of 65 jeeps had been granted permission by CNP to conduct jungle drives within the park.

Out of these, 32 jeeps were authorized from Sauraha, 15 from Kasara, nine from Meghauli, two from Ujauli, five from Amaltari, and one from Madi.

As the monsoon season commences, all tourism activities within the park, as well as those conducted on the river, have been halted.

Tiwari mentioned that the activities to be carried out within the buffer zone community forest would be decided by the buffer zone management committee.