|
Travel
Sites |
Elephant
ride in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Siliguri
by Pallav Basu
Siliguri (West Bengal): In an initiative to make Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of Siliguri a major tourist attraction, West Bengal Forest Development Corporation has come up with new luxury guest houses and new features like Elephant safari for the tourists. The Forest department has renovated the six-room building and transformed it into a lodge. And the elephant safari is being hoped to soon become a major attraction here. "We expect that with the brilliant forest surrounding, the people who come here will not only enjoy the serenity of the forest but would also learn a lot about the Nature, the conservation initiative and the animals that live in the forest," says Arin Ghosh, Managing Director, West Bengal Forest Development Corporation. To promote Buxa Tiger Reserve in Alipurduar sub-division of Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal as a tourist hub, the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation has renovated the buildings of the State forest department, built during the British period. These have been transformed into Buxa Jungle Lodge.
Officials
believe that the serenity of the forest will attract tourists in large
numbers. According to Jogesh Burman, State Forest Minister, apart from
Buxa Tiger Reserve, efforts are being made to develop Jayanti, a forest
around 30 kilometres away from Alipurduar sub-division of Jalpaiguri District,
into a sightseeing destination. "Local guides have been trained in the
different parts of Buxa. They will take the tourists for sightseeing and
the tourists will stay here. Most of the shortages have been overcome.
Efforts are on to develop Jayanti, which is also a good place for sightseeing.
The Directorate has a Bungalow and dormitory for officers who come to
do research. Plans are being made to build more dormitories in Jayanti,"
says Burman. Buxa Tiger Reserve running along the international border
with Bhutan was created in 1983. Besides the Bengal Tiger, the Reserve
is a house for leopard, fishing cat, leopard cat, and jungle cat. Innumerable
species of birds and butterflies are also found here. .
-Feb 11, 2006
Tourist
offices
in India
|
Window
on India |
|
News
Links |