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All wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves now open in West Bengal, Sundarbans National Park to open on October 1

The national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and tiger reserves in West Bengal are all set to welcome tourists with appropriate safety measures from September 16, after the state government announced to relax restrictions on wildlife safari and rides. The government has also decided to reopen the Sundarbans National Park for tourists from October 1. Through a series of orders, the West Bengal government announced that the decision is taken after reviewing the current situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state. West Bengal has already allowed the opening of parks and gardens throughout the state. “All national parks, sanctuaries, and tiger reserves located in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve along with safaris and rides, if any will be opened from October 1, 2021. The Wildlife Wardens/ Divisional Forest Officers shall be competent to impose suitable restrictions and safety norms as they deem fit,” the government order read. During the safari, wearing masks, maintaining physical distancing, and following hygiene protocols will be mandatory for the travellers all the time. Welcoming the decision, Debjit Dutta, Chairman, IATO West Bengal Chapter said that he is thankful to the authorities for this move. “IATO West Bengal Chapter is thankful to Vivek Kumar, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, West Bengal Forest Department and Nandini Chakravorty, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism for taking action on our request letter dated September 6 to consider reopening of Sundarbans National Park for tourists,” he said. Dutta further mentions, "There are almost 70 forest and nature guides, 52 tourist boat operators, and more than 52 Hotels operating in Sundarban and the livelihood of the host communities across the region is largely dependent on tourism. Our industry has been going through the biggest crisis ever in history due to the impact of the pandemic and it is important for us to restart safe tourism to save the future of the largest industry in the world. We are very happy to note that the other wildlife parks in the state have also been opened as per yearly schedule on September 16 (All parks apart from Sundarbans remain closed between June 15 and September 15 every year.)" The decision is anticipated to attract more tourists to the wildlife parks and forests of West Bengal right before Durga Puja and also provides much-needed relief to the wildlife enthusiasts of the country, tour operators, and guides who are now hopeful for a quicker recovery of the tourism industry in West Bengal.

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Booking of tickets for Chandigarh-Sharjah flights starts

The airliners have started booking tickets for the Chandigarh-Sharjah flights. The operations are scheduled to resume from September 23 from the Chandigarh International Airport, Mohali. Air India Express’ Chandigarh-Sharjah flight would operate two days a week – Thursday and Sunday. The one-sided fare ranges between Rs13,000 and Rs17,000. However, the passengers need to be fully vaccinated. As per the new travel guidelines, passengers wishing to travel to Sharjah need to get a negative Covid test report and they would also have to undergo an RT-PCR test at the airport six hours before boarding the flight. The airport authorities have allotted the testing work to Ghaziabad-based lab Genestrings Diagnostics Center, which would set up its infrastructure at the airport by September 21. Each passenger will have to pay Rs1,727 for an RT-PCR test. The same lab is charging Rs3,000 per passenger at the Delhi International Airport. Ajay Bhardwaj, Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh International Airport Limited, said the airport was charging only the rent from the diagnostic centre and they were not charging anything extra as they didn’t want to put extra burden on the passengers. The international bubble flights to Sharjah were discontinued after the second wave of pandemic hit the country. An air bubble is a special bilateral agreement arranged between two countries to enable seamless travelling with scheduled flights and a set of regulations and restrictions. Meanwhile, the flights to Dubai would also be resumed from the first week of October. According to the new travel guidelines issued by the UAE, Indians who own resident visas and are fully vaccinated and have completed at least 14 days after the second dose would be permitted to enter the UAE on acceptance of their registration with either the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai, or the ICA – the Federal Authority of Identity and Citizenship, UAE.

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You will soon be travel through Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Vistadome coaches

You will soon be able to ride through the famous Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Vistadome coaches. As per the reports, these coaches with reclining seats and wide windows, will soon be a part of a heritage train that will take passengers on a 100-km ride through the core area of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. After a successful trial this week, the heritage train with Vistadome coaches will start running on the tracks from the end of September. This special tourist train will take passengers on a 100-km ride through the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Dudhwa National Park; both are popular tiger-reserve zones in the Terai belt of Uttar Pradesh. Revealing more about the journey, the North Eatern Railway (NER) officials claimed that panoramic view through the window and glass roof of the Vistadome coaches will just be magical. The coaches will have seating capacity of around 60 passengers, whereas tourists would also be allowed to the entire coach as well, for their friends and family through the IRCTC railway booking website. Reports have it that the fare will likely be equal to that of AC chair cars. Elaborating more on this, MP Akshaywar Lal Gaur informed that the 171-km long Mailani junction that runs from Nanpara junction rail section of the British period and passes through Dudhwa National Park and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary is now being promoted as heritage tourism.

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MHA to soon decide on resuming issue of tourist visa

NEW DELHI: The Union home ministry is set to review its decision to suspend tourist visas in view of the downward trend in Covid cases in India, with active cases falling to 3.36 lakh as on September 15. A meeting may be held by the MHA brass later this week to take a call on resuming tourist visas, more than one-and-a-half years after they were suspended as part of containment measures against Covid-19. A positive decision to restore tourist visas is expected to revive the tourism sector, apart from hospitality and aviation industry. It is to be seen if the government will open tourist visas with riders, including limiting the facility to only vaccinated travellers for now and having a negative list of countries where Covid cases remain a concern. Many nations including those in the Gulf and Europe have opened up for tourism. Sources said India will take all possible factors into consideration before taking the final call on opening up to foreign tourists. A phased opening up is not being ruled out, as per sources. Earlier in June, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, had, while announcing measures to revive the tourism sector, stated that the first five lakh tourists would be granted visa free of charge, once international arrivals resumed. The total financial implication of this was put at Rs 100 crore.

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Indian Railways' Fare Policy: Reduction In Train Ticket Prices, New Time Table In October Likely

Union Minister of State for Railways had earlier revealed that the Railway has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 36,000 crore during the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides, the Railway had reportedly improved With its operating ratio to 97.45% owing to no concessions and tightening of expenses due to Covid-19. With the ease in restrictions in many States amid the dip in Covid-19 cases, the Indian Railways is planning to restart normal services of passenger trains in a phased manner from September, sources from Indian Railways said. Railway is also mulling to restart unreserved passenger trains. However, the decision to resume these trains will depend on the requests from states to resume normal operations and of course, the footfall of passengers. Meanwhile, in a good news for train passengers, the fare policy is gradually going back to track which was stuck since the last two years due to the halt of trains amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Railway has decided to release the new timetable from October. The preparations towards the new working timetable have also started. As the train services are about to restart in full swing, the Railway authorities have also decided to remove 'zero' from train numbers. The fare of trains is expected to reduce after the removal of zeros from the train numbers. After the removal of zero, the trains will reportedly run on their old normal fare basis. As per information, the Railway has decided that the fare of some special trains in their own way even though there is no special occassion while passengers will be charged as per earlier rates in other selected trains. Union Minister of State for Railways had earlier revealed that the Railway has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 36,000 crore during the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides, the Railway had reportedly improved its operating ratio to 97.45% owing to no concessions and tightening of expenses due to Covid-19.

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Domestic air passenger traffic rise by 34% during August

Passenger load factors of major scheduled commercial airlines were between 60.3%-79.6% during August, up from 53.6%-74.6% in July. Domestic air passenger traffic saw significant growth last month with the easing of lockdown restrictions following the decline in covid-19 cases, which gave confidence to more people to travel by air. Around 6.7 million passengers took to the skies in August, compared to 5.01 million in July, according to latest data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). However, domestic air passenger traffic was way below the 7.83 million seen in March. Subsequently, with the onset of the second wave of covid infections, domestic airlines recorded a steep fall in passenger traffic, before witnessing a recovery in June. Passenger load factors (PLF) of major scheduled commercial airlines were between 60.3%-79.6% during August, up from 53.6%-74.6% in July. PLF measures the capacity utilization of transport services, including airlines. During August, IndiGo ferried 3.82 million passengers to report a 57% market share and 74% PLF. Air India’s domestic load factor stood at 68.4%, with a market share of 13.2%, as it ferried 0.89 million passengers. SpiceJet carried 0.58 million passengers during the month registering a 79.6% PLF and 8.7% market share, while GoAir catered to 0.46 million passengers, recording a 6.8% market share and 67.6% PLF. Vistara and AirAsia India ferried 0.56 million and 0.35 million passengers, respectively, during August. While Vistara’s PLF stood at 71.3%, its market share stood at 8.3%. AirAsia India, whose PLF stood at 60.3%, recorded a market share of 5.2% during the month. Indian airlines are currently allowed to operate upto 72.5% of their pre-covid capacity.

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