Dhenkanal: Hundreds of local residents Sunday demanded tourist destination status to ‘Hati-Girida’ of Dhenkanal district. If developed with suitable infrastructure, the historic place will attract tourists round the year, a social activist Rajeeb Lochan Singhdeo said.
A source said that the Hati-Girida (a typical jumbo captive centre) was constructed nearly 160 years ago in Anantapur reserve forest of the district to make docile the wild elephants, during the reign of erstwhile Dhenkanal ruler Bhagirath Mahendra Bahadur. The pachyderms were being trained and domesticated as well.
The captive centre is located four kilometre away from Gundichanali village. A visitor can reach the village after covering a distance of about five kilometre from Kamakhyanagar block headquarters.
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After walking the distance on a forest road from Gundichanali village, a visitor has to pass over a temporary bamboo-made bridge across Ramial river to reach Hati-Girida.
Hati-Girida was built at a location where three hills unite. It was the lone captive centre in undivided Dhenkanal district during the Gadajat times. The place is rich in natural resources including greenery.
A local outfit named Zilla Sakriya Nagarika Parishad earlier submitted a memorandum to the district administration and forest department requesting to convert the ancient and vast captive centre into a tourist destination. The forest has a number of valuable plants.
Dhenkanal administration and the Forest department should take steps soon in this regard, many locals including Pradyumna Rath, Krushna Chandra Dwivedy, Ramachandra Sahu said.
PNN