• Assam: Dehing Patkai National Park officially open to public from today

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    Assam: Dehing Patkai National Park officially open to public from today
    The biggest area of lowland rainforests is found in Dehing Patkai National Park...

    Digital Desk: The Dehing Patkai National Park has been officially open to the public from Saturday, forest minister Chandra Mohan Patowary stated this while participating in the inauguration ceremony.

    Speaking at the event, Minister Patowary declared, "Dehing Patkai National Park is officially open to tourists from today. At an approximate cost of Rs 10 lakh, the state government built the national park's main gate. The state government plans to continue developing the national park."

    The minister of forests was accompanied by Digboi MLA Suren Phukan, Thowra constituency MLA Sushanta Borgohain, and several forest officials, including the DFO of the Digboi Forest Division.

    The Dehing Patkai National Park, which spans 231.65 km2 (89.44 sq mi) of rainforest, is situated in the Tinsukia and Dibrugarh district of Assam.

    On June 13, 2004, it was designated as a wildlife sanctuary. The Assam government upgraded it to a national park on December 13, 2020.

    The Assam Forest Department officially declared it a national park on June 9, 2021.

    It is situated in the lowland rainforest of the Dehing Patkai Landscape, which is characterized by dipterocarps. Over 575 km² (222 sq mi) of rainforest may be found in the districts of Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, and Charaideo.

    In the Arunachal Pradesh districts of Tirap and Changlang, the forest further spreads over.

    In India, the biggest area of lowland rainforests is found in Dehing Patkai National Park.

    Patowary, the state minister of Industries and Commerce, meanwhile, emphasized the value of the region's forest cover and oil blocks, saying that these natural resources are essential to the state.

    While speaking to the media, Minister Patowary stated, “Digboi Refinery, constructed in 1901, is the world's 2nd oil refinery and Asia's 1st refinery. It is a small refinery with a capacity of 0.65 Million Metric Tonnes per Annum (MMTPA). In comparison to Gujarat's Jamnagar refinery, which has a capacity of 60 MMTPA, our state has 4 refineries with a combined capacity of only 7 MMTPA. As a result, we intend to expand the Digboi refinery to a capacity of 1 MMTPA." 

    Regarding the Numuligarh Refinery, the state minister of Industries and Commerce declared that it will expand from its current capacity of about 3.95 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA. Currently under construction is a 1630-kilometer straight pipeline that will connect Paradip, in Odisha, to Numuligarh. The pipeline was founded by former Indian Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

    "The pipeline was built to move imported crude oil from Paradip Port to the Numaligarh refinery," Patowary added.