I had been planning to visit Sultanpur National Park with my family
for the last many years but unfortunately due to the limited (peak) time
period of visiting the park i.e. Dec. & Jan. , it could not be
materialized. My children & I generally have off during Saturdays
but my wife has to go. One Saturday due to some program in school my
daughters and wife were supposed to go to school & I had to drop
them. Luckily the school falls on the same way to Park. All of a sudden
it struck on my mind that instead of killing my time alone at home I
should visit the park.
Sultanpur National Park
The SNP is situated in Gurgaon district of Haryana , about 50 kms from Delhi & 15 kms from Gurgaon on Gurgaon – Faruukh Nagar road.
The park is developed around the natural lake. For the years Sultanpur lake has been attracting birds. Peter Jackson of International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources wrote to Prime minister Indira Gandhi about the need to declare the Sultanpur lake to a bird Sanctuary, In 1971 the Lake was declared as Bird Sanctuary later in 1991 the Bird sanctuary was notified as National Park.
The park is spread over 1.42 sq. kms. An elevated path of mud and bricks has been constructed on the periphery of the lake , the length would be around 3 kms and takes around 1 ½ – 2 hours to complete the full round of the park on foot.
There is an island kind of formation in the park where most of the birds come and stay, it is difficult to get the better view of the birds without binoculars. There are 2-3 jetties like pavements that would take you close to the lake which helps in giving the better view of birds. There are 4 machhans , where you can climb and be at a height of few feet to have bird’s eye view of the birds.
The park is famous for its migratory birds. Every winter park is full of several migratory species. The early bird start arriving in September and most of them are here by November.
Approx 250 species of Birds are found at park, approx. 150 are the resident while others come from distant regions like Siberia, Europe and Afghanistan.
Best time to visit
Best time to visit the park is in winters, December to January.
Route
SNP is around 20 kms from the IFFCO Chowk on Jhazzar road , Gurgaon. From IFFCO chowk take Jaipur Highway till Rajeev Chowk & then take a right turn under the flyover of Rajeev Chowk. Almost after one km turn left towards Basai road & then after crossing sector 09 take right turn and immediate left turn which leads to SBS. On the way you will pass through the Dhankot & Chandu villages. Almost after 22 kms to SNP the road is divided into two passages, right one goes to Badli left road which is exactly 03 kms leads to SNP.
Some of the regrets
One must not be without binoculars to actually enjoy the birds watching which I did not have & another carrying camera with high quality of lenses to capture the images of flying birds & the birds sitting far away beyond the range of an ordinary camera.
Timing
Summers (6.30 to 7.00 PM)
Winters (6.30 AM to 4.30 PM)
Accommodation
Forest department do not provide any accommodation, it is provided by Haryana tourism “Rosy Pelican tourist complex” which is located adjacent to the park.
Facilities
1. Education and Interpretation Centre : - It has many attractive coloured photographs pf birds.
2. Dr. Salim Ali Centre :- This centre is established in the memory of Dr. Salim Ali , international Ornithologist of India. The centre has some photographs , write-ups , a bit of history and certain of his personnel belongings.
Please note that on weekends both the centers are closed.
Conclusion
At the end of the day I found it a worth visiting place. But the matter of worrying is that most of the localities visiting this place use it as a picnic spot which is disturbing the natural habitat of the migratory birds. Nowadays school are also organising the educational trips to SNP but the children in excitement make so much of noise which leads to the disturbance in the Park.
Sultanpur National Park
Sultanpur National Park
The SNP is situated in Gurgaon district of Haryana , about 50 kms from Delhi & 15 kms from Gurgaon on Gurgaon – Faruukh Nagar road.
The park is developed around the natural lake. For the years Sultanpur lake has been attracting birds. Peter Jackson of International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources wrote to Prime minister Indira Gandhi about the need to declare the Sultanpur lake to a bird Sanctuary, In 1971 the Lake was declared as Bird Sanctuary later in 1991 the Bird sanctuary was notified as National Park.
The park is spread over 1.42 sq. kms. An elevated path of mud and bricks has been constructed on the periphery of the lake , the length would be around 3 kms and takes around 1 ½ – 2 hours to complete the full round of the park on foot.
There is an island kind of formation in the park where most of the birds come and stay, it is difficult to get the better view of the birds without binoculars. There are 2-3 jetties like pavements that would take you close to the lake which helps in giving the better view of birds. There are 4 machhans , where you can climb and be at a height of few feet to have bird’s eye view of the birds.
The park is famous for its migratory birds. Every winter park is full of several migratory species. The early bird start arriving in September and most of them are here by November.
Approx 250 species of Birds are found at park, approx. 150 are the resident while others come from distant regions like Siberia, Europe and Afghanistan.
Best time to visit
Best time to visit the park is in winters, December to January.
Route
SNP is around 20 kms from the IFFCO Chowk on Jhazzar road , Gurgaon. From IFFCO chowk take Jaipur Highway till Rajeev Chowk & then take a right turn under the flyover of Rajeev Chowk. Almost after one km turn left towards Basai road & then after crossing sector 09 take right turn and immediate left turn which leads to SBS. On the way you will pass through the Dhankot & Chandu villages. Almost after 22 kms to SNP the road is divided into two passages, right one goes to Badli left road which is exactly 03 kms leads to SNP.
Some of the regrets
One must not be without binoculars to actually enjoy the birds watching which I did not have & another carrying camera with high quality of lenses to capture the images of flying birds & the birds sitting far away beyond the range of an ordinary camera.
Timing
Summers (6.30 to 7.00 PM)
Winters (6.30 AM to 4.30 PM)
Accommodation
Forest department do not provide any accommodation, it is provided by Haryana tourism “Rosy Pelican tourist complex” which is located adjacent to the park.
Park where people enjoy Picnic
1. Education and Interpretation Centre : - It has many attractive coloured photographs pf birds.
2. Dr. Salim Ali Centre :- This centre is established in the memory of Dr. Salim Ali , international Ornithologist of India. The centre has some photographs , write-ups , a bit of history and certain of his personnel belongings.
Please note that on weekends both the centers are closed.
Conclusion
At the end of the day I found it a worth visiting place. But the matter of worrying is that most of the localities visiting this place use it as a picnic spot which is disturbing the natural habitat of the migratory birds. Nowadays school are also organising the educational trips to SNP but the children in excitement make so much of noise which leads to the disturbance in the Park.
Very good informative and inspire to rejuvenate in nature!!
ReplyDeleteThanks !
DeleteI didnot know that it was so close to Gurgaon, perhaps during my next visit to Gurgaon in winters, I will go to have a look at it! Thanks for the detailed instructions :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for going through the post & leaving comment.
Delete