Snow leopard research centre being set up

Terhathum: A Snow Leopard Study and Research Centre is to be set up in the Kanchanjungha Conservation Area in Taplejung district.
The construction of the Centre’s building is underway and it is set to complete within this fiscal year.

The Centre is to be set up at Khambachen of Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-6 at an altitude of 4,100 metres from the sea level.

Sixty-five per cent of the construction works of the building have completed, Conservation Officer Ganesh Prasad Tiwari said.

The construction of the building had been started three years back and it was targeted to be completed within July this fiscal year.

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) has allocated Rs 49 million 705 thousand 150 for establishing the Centre.

The Subarna JV Himalayan Construction Company has been awarded the contract for construction of the Centre’s building.

Tiwari said the construction works could not be completed within the deadline as the construction site is four days’ trek from the district headquarters and construction materials have to be transported from the district headquarters and as works could be carried out only for six months of the year.

The place would be under snow for the remaining six months.

As such, Tiwari said, the contract with the construction company has been extended by a year.