Deptt of Wildlife Protection organized Trekking from Surinsar to Purmandal

Jammu: Department of Wildlife Protection organized trekking programme from Surinsar to Purmandal. The 12 km trek route starts from Surinsar-Mansar Wildlife Sanctuary and passes through beautiful Shiwalik forests and culminates at famous heritage site of Purmandal. More than 100 enthusiasts from districts of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, Samba and Rajouri participated in the event. The participants included students, Researchers, local PRI members, professional from different walks of life and nature lovers.
The trek was flagged off by Dr. Kumar M.K, Regional Wildlife Warden, Jammu. On the occasion, Dr. Kumar informed that the Department has taken initiative to promote Eco-tourism in Forest and Wildlife areas. He appealed to Civil Society to support this initiative as it encourages nature and wildlife conservation and helps in improving livelihood of local communities. He also briefed about “do’s and don’ts” about trekking in forests and wildlife areas to the participants. He also briefed about Surinsar-Mansar Wildlife Sanctuary which has rich biodiversity. The Sanctuary is home to important wildlife species like Barking deer, Goral, Leopard, Neelgai, Peacock, Jungle fowl, Kalij Pheasant etc.
The trek started at 9:30 am and culminated at 4:30 pm at Purmandal. The participants enjoyed the scenic beauty of the trek having ascent, decent, rivulets, forests, meadows, bowlies, and natural spring’s enroute. The locals had set up eatable stalls on payment basis en route. The participants also relished Dogra cuisines at culmination of trek at Purmandal.
The trek programme organized under the guidance of Suresh Kumar Gupta, Chief Wildlife Warden J&K. The programme was conducted by Vijay Kumar, Wildlife Warden Kathua and facilitated by Forest and Wildlife staff of the area.