Dandeli: Toon superheroes fight off encroachers, save park

DANDELI: A part of forest land, which was prone to encroachment by land grabbers, has now become Dandakaranya eco-park in Dandeli. The park is known for installing sculptures of characters of well-known Hollywood animated movies and Indian cartoon characters.

S. Ramesh, divisional forest officer of Dandeli told Deccan Chronicle, “The area which was converted to park is the extension of forest area and was being targeted by land grabbers, as it’s strategically located. The forest department sensed trouble and demarcated around 24 acres and approached the senior officers and government to seek approval to convert the land into a park.”

He continued saying that once the approval was given, they had a challenge to construct a unique park. “We thought of many themes based on art and culture, history, mythology and other things. But we wanted to bring out something unique and that is when we found that the children are drawn towards cartoon and super human fictional characters. A minor research was carried out and characters from Hollywood movies such as  Avengers, Transformers, Hulk, Avatar, Charlie Chaplin, Simpsons and family and from Indian cartoons like Chota Bheem, Mowgli and many more were a hit among children and decided to carve out sculptures of these characters and 106 such characters were carved out.” The forest officials mentioned that the 24-acre park has 86 species of trees, which are more than 100 year old, and home to 63 species of birds.

The eco-park was opened for public with 2 km of walking path from April, 2017. It is a huge hit among all age group especially the children, who become teachers when they come to the park as they know more about the characters. We are also planning to construct an artificial water fall and open Rabbit Park.

There is also an amphitheatre where the local talent is encouraged to showcase their skills. We have priced the ticket at Rs 10 per head and till now we have collected a total of Rs 8 Lakh, which is used for the development of the park.

Another important factor is the park has provided employment to local people, who maintain the area.