Jamunkhadi Simsar and Zoo, Jhapa

Far Eastern Attraction

I was very happy to see a college notice that informed me that college will be closed for about one and a half month for Dashain, Tihar and Chhatha celebration.

On this long stay at home, I visited Jamunkhadi Simsar, which is located in Surunga VDC, nine KM west from Birtamode, Jhapa. Spread across ward numbers two and three of Surunga, Jamunkhadi occupies around 20 Bighas of land with many attractions. This place is a part of Jamunbari Community Jungle Consumer Committee.

There is a zoo, place for boating, a children’s fun park, and a picnic spot, which are the main attractions of Jamunkhadi. They were all developed around five years ago with the active initiative of local peoples. Jamunkhadi Development Committee is led by Parshuram Giri. The local zoo contains several beautiful, but endangered animals such as porcupines, vultures, anacondas, bears, and Chinese rats among others. Rs 20 is charged per person for entry into the place—which is a reasonable amount of money.
Another main attraction is boating. All boats are pedalled by self, not by boatmen. Rs 30 has to be paid for around half an hour time of water surfing. There are a total of seven such boats which can be seen in  Jamunkhadi pond.

A spacious picnic spot also attracts many picnic goers. Starting from November the picnic spot is all-packed until May as many picnic programmes are organised in between this period. Parking for different sorts of vehicles is available at a very low cost.
Besides these, ride and balance (Chakachuli), Chipleti have also been kept around for children to play. A ferris wheel is also under construction. On seeing this, I thought it as the rural version of Brikutimandap Fun Park. According to an employee at the ticket counter, 500 to 1,000 people visit the Jamunkhadi daily in the peak season (December-May). He also informed that around 50 Bighas of land is compounded by a fenece for further development of Jamunkhadi.
Jamunkhadi is a full package of entertainment. A whole day will be easily passed roaming and enjoying inside the area. A total Rs 8 million income has been estimated by the Consumer Committee for the current fiscal year. Twenty different shops are being run with good profit outside the Jamunkhadi area. So, we can say 50-60 people are getting employment from the Jamunkhadi.

Developing more such tourist centers enhances local lives along with the whole nation’s prosperity.

(Published in ‘The Kathmandu Post’ on 19 December 2012)