PESHAWAR, May 21: The Kund National Park, a home for some rare wildlife species and the only tourist resort in the area, is gradually losing its grandeur due to lack of maintenance, continuous loss of vegetation and the deteriorating condition of its link roads.

Situated on the confluence of the Indus and Kabul rivers over an area of 802 kanals near Nowhsera, the park has five huts to provide cheap accommodation to three-member tourist families inside the park but they are in decrepit conditions. Besides, the road linking the Park with the Swabi-Nowhsera road is also in a bad state and a journey between Swabi-Nowshera road to the park takes more than an hour though it should normally take not more than 30 minutes.

“The only attraction in the park for me is presence of precious wildlife species including common leopard, spotted deer, hog deer, black buck, golden pheasant, silver pheasant, ring-necked pheasant, kalij pheasant, cheer pheasant, blue peacock, white peacock, cranes, partridges, bare- headed geese and ruddy shelduck,” said Zia Sarhadi, member Executive Committee, Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who was on a day-long visit to the park along with his family.

He said the wildlife sanctuary at the Kund Park and adjacent Bear Centre established by the Wild Society for Protection of Animals had always attracted him and his family and they visit the park at least once in a month.

He underscored the need for constructing a suspension bridge on the Indus to attract a large number of tourists to fully utilise the tourism potential of the park.—APP