Dudhwa Park likely to get Ambedkar tag

Currently,the officials are busy drafting a proposal for renaming the park as Dr Ambedkar National Tiger Reserve. According to sources in the department,the officials have been asked to prepare a fool-proof draft which keeps in mind all the probable hassles. The officials are tight-lipped about the proposal and refuse to comment much on the issue at the moment.

“We are just preparing a draft. The Dudhwa National Park was declared through a notification on February 1 in 1976 and since then,the name Dudhwa name has stuck on to the area,” said an official. He said the name Dudhwa was given to the National Park because of a local story. “It seems the area was famous for milkmen and hence the name Dudhwa. When the national park was notified,it was decided that it would be called the Dudhwa National Park,” he said.

However,a section of wildlife enthusiasts are of the opinion that the park should be renamed after Billy Arjan Singh.

Incidentally,Singh had played a significant role in getting the forest area declared as a tiger reserve and spent his life here. The enthusiasts have also approached Jairam Ramesh,who is said to have expressed this to the UP chief minister through a letter,written on Friday. An official said since the Minister’s note is just a suggestion,the state government will see what best can be done.

Sources in the Forest department said the state government wants the renaming to be done at the earliest.

“We have been asked to prepare the proposal in the next two months. Earlier,it was also thought that the park would be renamed after former BSP leader Kanshiram but since Ambedkar has been a national leader,his name sounded more appropriate,” said an official,who looks after the management of the park.