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NEC to set up north-eastern tourism development council
New Delhi: The North Eastern Council (NEC) has agreed to set up a North Eastern Tourism Development Council (NETDC) to boost tourism in North Eastern region. Briefing reporters here, the Minster of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and Chairman of NEC, P.R. Kyndiah stated that tourism can play a vital role in poverty alleviation, employment generation and socio-economic development in the region. He said that the NEC has also agreed on a pilot project on Multi- Cropping Farming system. The NEC would upgrade information technology to carry out e- governance and e-commerce effectively in the region and also set up the North Eastern Bamboo Mission to promote bamboo industry in the region, Kyndiah added.
The
eight states of North East India Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur,
Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim and Meghalaya. It is only connected to mainland
India by the 22km wide Siliguri Corridor and is elsewhere bordered by
Bhutan, Tibet, China, Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh. Opened to visitors
a couple of years ago, positive moves are now being made to develop tourism
in the remote region. Of all the eight states, only Assam, Meghalaya and
Tripura can be visited without PAP (Protected Area Permits) or RAP (Restricted
Area Permits). At present, getting these permits is possible but not easy
for independent travelers. Groups traveling with an Indian Tour Operator
usually don't have a problem, as the latter takes care of all the paperwork.
North East India is spread over 250,000 square kilometres and has a population
of about 40 million. From a tourism and toursit point of view, the region
has numerous national parks, that provide a habitat for elephants, one-horned
rhinos, various deer, wild boar, otters and a variety of birds. Tigers,
clouded leopards and snow leopards are also there but very elusive. The
region also provides options for adventure sports like rock and mountain
climbing, trekking, rafting, caving and paragliding.
-Feb 20, 2006
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