One of the most famous wildlife destinations in India for the Tiger sighting in their natural habitat, the Ranthambore National Park receives the highest number of footfalls among all the tourist destinations in India. The safari booking in Ranthambore is being done by the forest department of Ranthambore using the online and offline booking system. Till now, 75 percent of the total number of safari allowed to enter in a day has been done through the online booking system while 25 percent of safari has been booked through the offline process. However, the forest department of Rajasthan is now mulling over to make some change in the process. As per the upcoming booking system, tourists can make an online booking also for the 25 percent offline quota through the any e-Mitra.
The offline booking quota was used by the tourists who visit the park without any prior planning. They don’t have the advance booking of the safari so through the offline booking at the booking window of the Ranthambore forest office they can get the permit on the spot. After the implementation of the new system, the offline quota can also be booked in advance through the e-Mitra system. A senior forest official of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve said, “The move has been taken to maintain transparency. Offline booking at tiger reserve is done by a private firm using its own software. Department of Information Technology (DOIT) has already developed a special software for booking. The decision has been taken to discourage the existing pattern. Few agents at RTR book safari tickets using modern software. Moreover, the booking doesn’t start at 12 midnight, due to which tourist cannot book their tickets on their own. Agents are aware of the exact timing of online booking opening. The new system would bring in transparency.”
As per the official of the Ranthambore forest department, the new revision will be implemented from the September 15th of this year. The forest official said, “There is increasing interest in the RTR and efforts are being made to set up a transparent system to discourage black-marketing. This would also give a boost in revenue generation.” The renewed system will check the booking fraud and provide the more transparent booking process. The advance booking period has also been increased from 3 months to 1 year. The Ranthambore forest department is generating good revenue by organizing the wildlife safari in the park. With the increasing craze for the tiger sighting in the Ranthambore forest in their natural habitat, an amendment in the permit booking system and upgrading of the infrastructure in Ranthambore was long required. The infrastructure has also been upgraded recently with the installation of solar panels in the forest, building 100 water holes to meet the water shortage in summer for wild animals as well as equipping forest guards with wireless sets and improving patrolling and surveillance system.
