Elephant rides for children begin at Van Vihar

During my stint for seven years in Bhopal, I had a few friends whom I could trust who also helped in me getting good stories for the newspaper. Ritu Raj Mate, Anil Mudgal, Ambreesh Mishra, Anup Datta, Manoj Batham, Vivek Pateria and Manish Mishra and Manish Choure. Apart from these named there are a few others too who helped me in getting some very good stories into the Hindustan Times, Bhopal edition on a regular basis. This is one such story which Ritu Raj Mate had given me May 2004.

Elephant rides have broken the confines of the National parks to come to the State capital. For Lakshmi, a 35 year-old elephant, and its mahout Govind Giri, it was a new experience today as the pachyderm carried children into the Van Vihar National Park for the first time in the city of lakes. This new programme, a joint venture by the Van Vihar National Park and Tirupati Adventure Travels is to encourage children below 14 years of age to get closer to wildlife on an elephant back.
The elephant had a hand, a heavy leg to be precise, in the Puja by breaking two coconuts. It then carried six children on its back trough the main gates to start the programme. Chief Secretary A V Singh took keen interest in the project and backed it to the hilt. The ride would cost Rs 150 per child and will carry the children from the Boat Club to the Greenwood Club gate where they would be given a lecture and shown a film on wildlife.
The director of Tirupati Adventure Travels, Ritu raj Mate, said that the idea came about after A V Singh wanted an educative programme on wildlife at the Van Vihar. The director of the Van Vihar, Chaudhary, was equally enthusiastic and the programme took off.
The Range Officer for Tourism at Van Vihar, Vinod Saxena, who was also present, will be in charge of the whole show of elephant rides. These rides are meant to improve the knowledge of children about wildlife and their habitat, said Mate.
He added that after six months when the elephants get used to the topography of the park, the officials of Van Vihar will earmark a route inside the woods on the hills of the park for the elephants to take children closer to the wild. With the addition of elephants, the Van Vihar will hopefully get the much needed face lift it has been waiting for and will attract more international tourists in the future.