Entrance to the Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, June 17: The government will develop the Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary on the city outskirts into an eco-tourism zone.

Forests and environment minister Bikram Keshari Arukh today said a portion of the sanctuary was being developed as a tourism zone. Hundreds of people visit the lake inside the reserved forest on holidays.

The sanctuary is known for elephants and other wild animals and draws tourists from near and far.

Spread over 266sqkm, the reserve forest was declared as a sanctuary in June, 1988. The sanctuary is being developed with funds from State Plan and Compensatory Afforestation Programme.

The minister said that places such as Deras, Jhumuka and Godibari were being developed keeping the requirements of tourists in view. Picnic spots, rest houses, bamboo huts, snack shops and souvenir kiosks were being set up inside the sanctuary.

An interpretation centre, medicinal plant garden, rope-climbing and adventure games facilities are already in place there.

Arukh made the statement in the Assembly when MLAs Bhagirathi Badjena and Priyadarshi Mishra today expressed their concern over the environmental threat that the sanctuary faces because of high-rise apartments and technical institutes coming up in its periphery.

The sanctuary is often in the news with elephants straying into human habitations in the outskirts of the city.

The minister said that to prevent the animals from moving out of the sanctuary, 115.8km of elephant-proof barriers had been constructed in phases since 2007-08. Watchtowers had also been set up to monitor the movements of animals and poachers.

Awareness campaigns were also being organised to educate local residents about the need for protecting wildlife.

Four fire-fighting squads have been constituted to save the reserve forest from fire. Two large water bodies at Deras and Kumarkhunti provide water to the wild animals. Besides, 21 more ponds have been either dug or renovated for the elephants and other animals. To meet the food requirements of the wild animals, steps have been taken for creation of salt licks and fodder grass plantation.

During 2013-14, more than 2.16 lakh saplings have been planted over 199.81 hectares, said officials.