September 23, 2015
WB CM names Gajoldoba tourist hotspot ‘Bhorer Aalo’
The state government is setting up a tourist hotspot at Gajoldoba in North Bengal to be named ‘Bhorer Aalo’.
The spot, identified by Mamata Banerjee during her election campaign in 2011, is located near Teesta Barrage in Jalpaiguri district. The seven reserve forests are an hour’s drive from there.
Sprawling over 210 acres of government land, the spot is encircled by the Teesta barrage catchment on one side and a bird sanctuary on the other where over 15,000 birds come annually.
“For the last two years, we have been developing the infrastructure of the area with PWD constructing three connecting roads of 31 km, 9 km and 7 km to the spot. A power sub-station has been set up and two huge water tanks are there,” Dr Amit Mitra, State Finance Minister, told reporters.
Several star category hotels, including three, four and five star, would come up along with two budget hotels for the middle class. A nine-hole golf course, too, would come up.
“We would set up a golf training centre and small cottages at the golf course,” Mitra added.
Sterling Holiday Resorts, in joint venture with Thomas Cook, had won the bid for the three-star hotel, while Summit Group, which owns Darjeeling’s Swiss Hotel and Seal Group, that promotes tea tourism in North Bengal, had won bids for two budget hotels.
“One lakh tourists can be served by these three hotels annually and around 1,000 people would get job opportunities,” the finance minister said.
The government would be earning Rs 4.5 crore as annual lease rental and Rs 3.5-4 crore as luxury tax from these hotels.
A crafts and ayurveda village, too, are under construction in the area, Dr Mitra added.
