Balasore, June 14: Simlipal wildlife sanctuary, which houses a tiger project and is bestowed with rich varieties of flora and fauna, will be closed to tourists from July 1 because of the rains.

Authorities said the park, during the current season beginning from last November, has witnessed a record number of tourist footfalls.

“More than 25,000 tourists, including 43 foreign nationals, visited the sanctuary and nearly Rs 22 lakhs revenue has been earned. This is an all-time record for the sanctuary,” said Anup Nayak, the regional chief conservator of forest and director Simlipal tiger reserve. “Generally, we close the sanctuary by mid-June. The road communication in the sanctuary gets disrupted because of the rains. Since monsoons have arrived a bit late this year, we have decided to keep the sanctuary open till the end of this month,” he said, adding that the department was planning to arrange tourist trips for bird watching through Gudugudia.

Last year, while about 12,000 tourists visited the sanctuary, in 2011 the figure was only around 6,000.

Range officer of Simlipal S. Jena said: “Although the tourists will be denied permission to enter the sanctuary, people can still come here and enjoy the scenic beauty of the waterfalls and green vegetation located in the foothills outside the sanctuary limits.”

“Sitakund, Bhimkund and Devkund waterfalls are known tourist attractions,” he said.

“Although the sanctuary will be closed to tourists, the forest officials will continue to patrol the area,” Nayak said.