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Siliguri/BIRESWAR BANERJEE/Aug. 23: Seven forest villages are being readied for tourists wanting to visit the hills and the Dooars to unwind during the Pujas close to the wild green world.
Forest dwellers living in small hamlets within reserve forest areas in Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts have joined hands to initiate community-based tourism to improve their socio-economic condition.
Buoyed by a proposal from the National Forum for Forest People and Forest Workers, many of them have readied infrastructure like accommodation in at least seven locations in Kalimpong and the Dooars.
“There are 220 forest villages in north Bengal. Of these, we have identified 20 villages and have readied seven locations where tourists can visit right now,” said Saumitra Ghosh, a senior representative of the National Forum, today.
Around six lakh people reside in the 200 or so forest hamlets.
“Considering the idyllic locations of the forest villages, we had selected them for promotion for sites of community-based tourism. Each village will have a committee which will monitor all activities associated with tourism.”
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People can come and stay in the homes of the forest dwellers, enjoy the local cuisine and witness their lifestyle and culture at close quarters. Added to these, excursions to forests, mountains and historical ruins like Buxa Fort would be made arranged for them, he added.
In the hills, the selected hamlets include Mungpoo, made famous by Rabindranath Tagore — the bard visited the place four times between 1935 and 1940 — and the orange and the cinchona plantations.
Located near it is Sitong, another hamlet famous for oranges. Chatakpur, close to Kurseong, is also an idyllic location.
“In the Dooars, we have selected villages like Buxa Sadare, Lepchakha, which is also in the Buxa hills and Kathambari and Samsing, both located near Lataguri. People can stay in local homes while enjoying nature and wildlife at Gorumara National Park and the Chapramari wildlife sanctuary nearby. Buxa has attractions like the tiger reserve, Buxa Fort and Rupam Valley. Lepchakha is a Drukpa village where tourists can enjoy traditional sports like archery,” a National Forum representative said. Drukpa is a tribe with origins in Bhutan.
Committees have been formed with local villagers as members. They will apprise the others of the hospitality they are expected to extend to the visitors.
“Since the villages are ready, we have decided to take the help of a local tourist service provider to campaign for our locations and help bring in visitors, make arrangements for transport and book accommodations,” Ghosh said.
He said the charges had not been fixed yet.
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| A watchtower in Chatakpur. Telegraph pictures |
“But a portion of the earnings would be handed over to the agency that will do the campaign as service charge.”
Debashis Chakraborty, who runs Wind Oz Tours and Travels in Siliguri — the enterprise that will act as intermediary between tourists and forest villagers — said the firm had already started working at each location and initiated a planned campaign.
“We are eyeing the ensuing season and hope to bring in tourists to these villages. Community-based tourism is gaining popularity by the day and many tourists, while choosing remote and quiet places to rejuvenate themselves during vacations, prefer homestays to get a taste of nature,” he said.
Forest dwellers like Shyamal Rava of the Dooars and Govind Roka of Kurseong said village tourism would open a new opportunity for them. “There are several educated youths in villages who have not got much employment opportunity,” Roka said.
“This initiative would help them get involved in an economic activity from their homes itself. Absence of jobs and opportunities have prompted many youths, who have worked and conserved the forests and wildlife over generations, to move out of their villages. We feel that through introduction of tourism, economic problems of forest villagers would be mitigated to a considerable extent.”
-TT
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