PRAYAGRAJ, April 30 -- Uttar Pradesh's only blackbuck sanctuary in Chand Khamaria, located around 40km in Meja area of Prayagraj district's trans-Yamuna region, is all set to get a further push to attract tourists. As part of this initiative, the UP Tourism department is going to construct an attractive entrance gate in the shape of the horns of a blackbuck, set up an interpretation centre, canteen, watch tower, selfie point and even an activity centre for children, officials of the UP Tourism department said. The plan also includes setting up a children's park among other facilities. Besides putting up new signages, a ticket counter, guard room and toilets will also be constructed as part of this exercise, they added. For the task, the state government has sanctioned over Rs 4.99 crore and work on ground is slated to begin in a month's time after completing the necessary tendering process, said regional tourism officer of Prayagraj, Aprajita Singh, while confirming the move. All the development works will be undertaken around the actual sanctuary and not inside the designated area to keep the habitat of the blackbucks unaffected, she said. According to forest department officials, conservation efforts over the years are showing good results and the count of blackbucks that stood at around 404 in 2011 and rose to 506 in 2019, now stands at around 553, which includes around 173 males, 250 females and 130 fawns. Forest officials said that whatever construction is done will adhere to set standards of maintaining their closeness to nature and environmental friendliness. Work is to be done on a total of 23 points in the park, which includes construction for basic facilities and recreational activities. In the park, gazebos will also be constructed with wood and grass along open spaces to help visitors avoid rain and sun. Fencing will also be built around the park made of wood and bamboo. The plan is to also build mud tracks to make access to common sites easier for visitors, they added. In 2017, the UP government approved the plan of setting up the Blackbuck Conservation Reserve in the trans-Yamuna belt near Prayagraj as the first conservation reserve dedicated to blackbucks. This blackbuck sanctuary was established on the land of village council Chand Khamaria and Malikalan of Meja forest area. The then DM had made 88 hectare of land available in the village Chand Khamaria and Malikalan and 38.1230 ha forest land adjoining it (total 126.1230 ha land) for the blackbuck reserve....