By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 1 Sep: Dr Sonali Ghosh, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Assam, is the first woman to have taken over as Director of Kaziranga National Park (KNP), which is 118 years old. She took charge from Jitendra Sharma on his superannuation, today.
Kajiranga is the largest home of the great one horned Rhino and presently has 2613 Rhinos in as per the census of this year. Kaziranga National Park is in Golaghat in Nayagaon District of Assam State.
This park hosts two-thirds of the World’s Indian Rhinoceroses as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The history of Kaziranga as a protected area can be traced back to 1904, when Mary Curzon, wife of Viceroy of India Lord Curzon, visited this area. This reserve forest was declared as Reserve Forest in 1905 having area of 232 square kilometres.
Dr Sonali hails from Doon Valley and is a topper of the FRI. She joined IFS after doing her graduation from the Wildlife Institute of Dehradun. She is married to Chandra Bhushan an IAS officer presently serving with the Lt Governor of Delhi. They have a daughter, Lavaniya.
According to Lt Colonel BM Thapa (Retd) Dr Sonali is the daughter of his course mate, the late Col AK Ghosh of the Engineers, and Seema Ghosh. He and Col Thapa were commissioned together in June 1963 in the Corps of Engineers.
