Nal Sarovar boating routes fixed on lines of Gir forest
Now, you may not have to shell out those extra bucks that boatmen demand in lieu of taking you deeper into Nal Sarovar to watch the winged visitors. The forest department has framed eight routes in this 120 sq km lake, on the lines of Gir sanctuary, where the boatmen would take the visitors. This will ensure that people do not end up paying more considering that the charges of boating at Nal Sarovar are per person per hour. Forest department officials said that it was noticed that a tourist would hire the boat for one hour and end up spending several hundred more because he would not be able to watch the birds. The officer said that earlier the boatman would row the boat slowly consuming more time and later he would ask for double the amount while in middle of the lake. "A person coming to watch the birds would agree to pay the rate, which is asked when he is in the lake and has not been able to watch the birds,' a forest department official said. After deliberations with the boatmen and their association, the eight routes to eight different islets inside the lake have been fixed. "The routes were fixed following the Gir Sanctuary where there were different routes and the tourist was asked to pick up the route.' said the officer. Deputy Conservator of Forest B D Modi said, "The routes were decided based on the maximum time they can take to reach a location. The timings of the route range from one hour to six hours and the tourists will chose the route and pay accordingly.' Modi said that to identify the spots, the forest department has also put marks and boards on the islets. There were boats put at Dhrabla bet, Sur Bet, Limsi Bet and others. He said that the sixhour route was the longest route. This route was from Nalsarovar entry point to Limsi bet, Sur bet, Panvad Bet, Dhrabla bet, Cholathali bet, Chera bet and back. This was the route which covered all the routes. He further said besides this routes there were rates being in the ratio of per person and per hour. This would help the tourist to choose there route according to their pockets and budgets. People at Nal Sarovar for a boat ride