Asola faces ecological damage as crowds swell

Mohammad Faizan is on his way to Neeli Jheel with three friends. The lake, around 16km inside the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in south Delhi, has emerged a popular eco-tourism attraction over the past year.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

NEW DELHI: It has artificial waterfalls, landscaped gardens and that great modern-day magnet -- selfie points.

It takes Faizan nearly 30 minutes to park his Maruti Swift Dzire: the unpaved trail to the lake is chock-a-block with other vehicles, and the parking lot at the lake can only accommodate 50-60 cars far from the number of visitors on this sunny Sunday afternoon in an otherwise cold January.

According to Delhi forest department officials, on typical weekends, the sanctuary home to leopards, striped hyenas and golden jackals -hosts up to 500 visitors a day. The number is likely an underestimate wildlife experts who frequently visit the sanctuary say the figure is closer to 1,000 per day on weekends.

One major reason for such large crowds could be the low price of entry -tickets are priced at Rs 10 (entry for children below the age of 5 years is free), while it costs another Rs. 10 per recording device (including smartphones).

In February 2023, Delhi's environment minister Gopal Rai formally opened the eco-tourism spot near Neeli Jheel for visitors. A few months before that, Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena had inaugurated four artificial waterfalls at the lake, along with a 4-km long trekking trail, as part of a larger eco-tourism plan for the area.

To be sure, the sanctuary has always been open for visitors, though till late 2021, the entry fee was Rs 500 per person.

As Neeli Jheel is around 16km inside the sanctuary, most visitors are obliged to drive their private cars. To be sure, the sanctuary does have some golf carts to take visitors to the lake, but there are only 10 such vehicles, they do not set off from the sanctuary gate till they are full, and they have no windows means that the 16km journey to the lake on a dusty, unpaved which route can be quite tedious.