Kaziranga: In the limelight

Guwahati, July 10: Kaziranga National Park secured a prized slot among the top 77 nominees in the New7wonders of Nature Global Contest through online voting, the result of which was declared last night.

Altogether 440 participants (natural sites and monuments) from 222 countries had featured in the contest.

The Sunderbans, a joint nominee of India and Bangladesh, too found a place in the list of 77. The Pangong Lake in Ladakh and the Ganges were the other two from India in the group of 440, but failed to make the cut.

A panel of experts will shortlist 28 finalists from the 77 participants for the final round of voting. The finalists will be announced on July 21.

The final result of the contest, organised by a Switzerland-based NGO, would be declared in 2011.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi and forest minister Rockybul Hussain today thanked all those who voted to push the world heritage site towards the title.

Hussain said it was because of the untiring efforts of the forest staff, NGOs and the people of Assam that the park could achieve the feat.

“I am confident that Kaziranga would make it to the list of Seven Wonders of the World,” he said.

The forest minister appealed to the people to continue their support for the park.

The All Assam Students Union, too, had joined the fray making an appeal to the people to vote for Kaziranga, which has scripted a conservation success story.

S.N. Buragohain, the director of the park, terming the development as “big achievement”, appealed to the people to vote for the park if it makes it to the final list of 28.

“This is a joyous occasion. Kaziranga deserves its spot in the limelight. We hope the people of the state would continue to extend support to the park and ensure that it wins the title,” Bibhab Talukdar, secretary general of Aaranyak, a leading NGO, here said.

Kaziranga National Park is home to about two-thirds of the world’s total one-horned rhinoceros population.