June 7, 2014
Tourism at Buxa Tiger Reserve gets a boost, thanks to WB CM`s initiative
West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. MamataBanerjee has taken initiatives to revive the car safaris that had been stoppedin the Buxa Tiger Reserve four years ago .This would boost the tourism industrythat directly and indirectly employs several thousand people, felt the ChiefMinister.
Thereserve which spans 762 sq km in Jalpaiguri district has 12-15tigers. The area is known for its scenic beauty and otherwild animals such as bison, elephants and deer. The tourism season starts onSeptember 15 and ends on June 15.
TheChief Minister also announced several other steps to boost tourism, such asmaking Jayanti, an area inside the BTR, a model village. She said that”tourists like the car safari in BTR, which will be restored.”
Touroperators said that since the car safaris stopped in 2010, the number oftourists coming to the biggest forest in north Bengal had fallen.
TheChief Minister said yesterday: “Like other places in the Dooars, we areconcentrating on tourism in Buxa Duar and Jayanti areas of Buxa Tiger Reserve.A.R. Bardhan, the tourism secretary, along with other officials last weekvisited Buxa Duar and Jayanti and he will submit a report to me.” She said thatin Jayanti and Buxa Duar, “tourism centres would be set up soon so thattourists can know about the history” behind the fort in Buxa Duar, a village inthe BTA area, as well as other villages there. The trekking route towards BuxaDuar and Lepchakha, another village, “have been improved and will be improvedmore in the near future”, the Chief Minister said.
TheChief Minister, who has earlier spoken of initiating several tourist projectsin the hills, said she was “impressed with the natural beauty in Jayanti”, butadded that the area was “congested”. “I have asked Gautam Deb, the north Bengaldevelopment minister, to see if villagers can be shifted from Jayanti, thendevelopmental work in connection with tourism can be done there,” she said.
TheChief Minister also spoke about a plan to make Jayanti, which is in the BTRarea, a model village. A model village is generally one where tourists canavail themselves of homestays and mingle with the local community. Thecommunity itself benefits as better roads, water supply and other amenities aremade available for the villagers.
