Kankai webpage revised, no word on private guides

22/01/2018
Kankai webpage revised, no word on private guides
The Times of India
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/kankai-webpage-revised-no-word-on-private-guides/articleshow/62604969.cms

Gujarat tourism department has revised its advisory asking tourists to hire private guides and transporters for spending the night at Kankai Mataji temple deep within Gir forest. However, the department has now clarified that only 50 'devotees' (people whose 'kul devi' is Kankai Mataji) can stay overnight in the temple. Earlier, it had invited all tourists to have a night stay at Kankai.

On January 19, the Times of India had carried a report titled, "At Kankai, govt goes against own rule." The report had revealed how the state tourism department had been ignoring its own forest laws and allowing numerous tourists to halt at night in the Kankai temple located in the heart of Gir sanctuary. Under the rules, the forest department can allow night stay to not more than 50 devotees at a time.

In September 2017, the Gujarat government had issued a notification allowing 50 devotees (only for rituals) to stay overnight at Kankai Mataji temple in the Gir forests. However, the Gujarat tourism website continued to invite all tourists, 'advising' them to stay overnight and that too by hiring a private transporters. The Kankai temple page on the website said 50 km from Sasan Gir, there is a shrine to Kankai Mata, the protector of the shepherds of Gir forest.

However, the tourism department has now drastically changed all the information earlier available on its portal. Its website (which was corrected on Saturday) states: "In the heart of the jungle, 25 km from Sasan Gir, there is a shrine to Kankai Mata, the benefactor of the shepherds of Gir forest. A supremely wild place, here you can hear lions roar at night and animals gathering at the nearby lake. The Forest Department allows devotees; no more than 50 at a time, for night stay."