Sanjay Gandhi National Park

Sanjay Gandhi National Park
Borivali National Park
Main gate of the park
LocationMumbai, Maharastra, India
Coordinates19°15′N 72°55′E / 19.250°N 72.917°E / 19.250; 72.917
Area87 km2 (34 sq mi)[1]
Established1996
Named forSanjay Gandhi
Visitors2 million per year
Governing bodyMinistry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Websitesgnp.maharashtra.gov.in

Sanjay Gandhi National Park is a 87 km2 (34 sq mi) national park in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was established in 1969 with its headquarters situated at Borivali.[1]

The 2400-year-old Kanheri caves, sculpted by monks out of the rocky basaltic cliffs, lie within the park. Sanjay Gandhi National Park attract more than 2 million visitors every year.[2]

History

The Kanheri caves, located centrally in the park, were important Buddhist learning centres and pilgrimage sites sculpted by Buddhist monks between the 9th and the 1st centuries BCE.[3] They were chiselled out of a massive basaltic rock outcropping.[4] In 1996, the park was renamed to Sanjay Gandhi National Park, after Sanjay Gandhi. The same year, some forests from the Thane division were merged into the park, further expanding its total area to 103.84 km2 (40.09 sq mi).[5]

Geography

The park occupies most of the northern suburbs of Mumbai. To the west lie the suburbs of Goregaon, Malad, Kandivali, Borivali and Dahisar. To the east lie the suburbs of Bhandup and Mulund. To the south lies the Aarey Milk Colony and the university campus of IIT Bombay. The northern reaches of this forest lie in Thane city. The park and the areas surrounding it, except Thane city, are all part of Mumbai. It is the only protected forest located within the limits of a city.

Wildlife

Sanjay Gandhi National Park is home to over 1,000 plant species, 251 bird species, 5,000 insect species, 150 butterfly species, 40 mammal species, 38 reptile species and nine amphibian species.[6][7]

Flora

In the state of Maharashtra, the mass flowering of karvi has been observed to occur in Mumbai in the same year as in the hill station of Khandala and one year earlier in Bhimashankar and Malshej Ghat, beyond Kalyan.[8]

Fauna

Reptiles living here include crocodiles in the Tulsi Lake, pythons, cobras, Checkered keelback, Common krait, monitor lizards, Russell's vipers, bamboo pit viper and Indian cat snakes.[7] In 2003, pugmarks and droppings of a Bengal tiger were found in the park. Although the tiger was never widely sighted, it did bring some excitement to city folks as records of tiger being found here are quite old and forgotten now with the last tiger being shot down 80 years earlier in the region.[9] Conservation was also proposed for the interlinked habitat corridors and nearby forest areas in the state along with upgrading their status as tiger habitat.[10]

Some of the birds in the park are jungle owlets, golden orioles, racket-tailed drongos, minivets, magpies, robins, hornbills, bulbuls, sunbirds, peacock, and woodpeckers. Migratory and local birds such as the paradise flycatcher and various species of kingfishers, mynas, drongos, swifts, gulls, egrets, and herons have also been spotted.[7]

Threats

The leopard threat still continues in and around the Thane district today, with repeated sightings as well as attacks on pets and humans. On 16 July 2012, a seven-year-old girl was killed in Mulund right outside her home by a leopard. A year later, a 40-year-old woman was attacked and killed by a leopard in Bhiwandi, Thane City, in 2013. Five days later, a 14-year-old shepherd survived a leopard attack in the same region.[11] In 2014, a two-year-old child went missing from Ghoong village in Wada.[12] August 2015 saw four leopard attacks in Thane city.[13] In one incident, a leopard and her cub dragged a one-year-old Rottweiler off.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b Narkar, N.S.; Mhaiske, V.M.; Patil, V.K.; Narkhede, S.S.; Malave, D.B. (2017). "Socio-Economic Impact of Tourism Activity on Local Stakeholders of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali, Mumbai". Journal of Tree Sciences. 36 (2): 105−114. doi:10.5958/2455-7129.2017.00032.2.
  2. ^ "2 million visitors of national park Borivali are unaware of this!". Bombay Nagari. 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Kanheri Caves". Archived from the original on 12 May 2001. Retrieved 28 January 2007.
  4. ^ "Mumbai's Ancient Kanheri Caves". Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2007.
  5. ^ "Metro-3 row: 1,501 hectares of Aarey Milk Colony is part of the Borivali National Park in Mumbai, say experts". Hindustan Times. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  6. ^ Mirza, Z.; Pal, S. (2008). "A checklist of reptiles and amphibians of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, Maharashtra". Cobra. II (4): 14–19.
  7. ^ a b c "Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali, Mumbai". Maharashtra State Forest Department. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  8. ^ Chhaya, S. (2000). "The Karvy blooms". The Times of India Supplement. Archived from the original on 6 April 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  9. ^ "A tiger on Malabar Hill". Livemint. 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Tiger may expand boundaries of park". Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  11. ^ "Teen injured in leopard attack in Thane". The Hindu. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  12. ^ "Leopard attack: 50 men search for 5 days but can t find 2-yr-old s body". mid-day.com. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  13. ^ "4 leopard attacks in 2 months leave Ovala residents on edge". The Times of India. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  14. ^ Mishra, R. (2015). "Leopard Attack in Thane: Female Leopard & cub caught on CCTV snatching pet Rottweiler dog". india.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.

Further reading

  • Patwardhan, A. (2014). Butterflies of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Ambient Science 1(1): 7–15.
  • Kasambe, R. (2012): Butterfly fauna of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Mumbai. Bionotes 14 (3): 76–80.
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