West Bengal
is all set to promote eco-tourism on a large scale. Plans are afoot to set up a
bird sanctuary in Kolkata on the lines of Singapore's
Jurong Bird
Park, a move which is expected to catapult
the site to the top-five tourism spots in India.
The government has already flagged off work on mega tourism hubs such as
Dooars, Hooghly and the world's largest mangrove forest
- Sunderbans.
The government also announced setting
up of an eco-tourism advisory board at the fag end of 2014. The board will be
chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to facilitate implementation of the
proposals in a manner that doesn't damage the environment.
"The two priorities for us
are - balance between nature and industrial development and eco-friendly
practices. We certainly don't want to disrupt natural systems at the cost of
progress and we will monitor the implementation of projects in accordance with
that," said Tourism Minister Bratya Basu.
Work has already started in
Jharkhali (in the Sunderbans), at Gajoldoba, 35 km east of Siliguri in the
Terai-Dooars forest circuit, and at Sobuj Dweep in Hoogly district. “The tourism department is
designing a Sunderbans tourism roadmap taking into account the two priorities,”
Basu said.
To tap into the relatively virgin
locales in the Sunderbans, Banerjee recently launched a Rs. 400-crore project
to boost tourism infrastructure in Jharkhali on a public private partnership
model.
Jharkhali is one of the entry
points to the Sunderbans - home to the endangered Royal Bengal tiger. The
proposed hub will have an eco-tourism park and hotels for tourists.
To ensure ease of travel,
Banerjee also unveiled a 725 metre bridge - named Mridanga Setu - that will
connect the Sunderbans with the mainland.
Another ambitious project is the
world's first mangrove zoo to come up in Jharkhali at a cost of Rs. 25 crore.
The hub will mimic the mangrove ecosystem to ensure compatibility with the
animals.
Banerjee said it would mainly
help conserve the endangered flora and fauna of the Sunderbans. She has also
inaugurated a tiger rescue centre in the area named 'Byaghrosundari' (Bengali
for 'beautiful tigress'). She has also reached out to the picturesque hilly regions
to boost tourism, including the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) where she took an
initiative to revive a car safari that was stopped four years ago. The reserve,
spanning 762 square km in Jalpaiguri district, has 12-15 tigers, according to
government sources.
Banerjee plans to make Jayanti,
one of the villages in the BTR area, a model village, spruced up with homestays
where tourists can enjoy a slice of local culture.
The state will also float a
global tender for a 100-acre eco-tourism park at Banarahat in the district,
complete with resorts, budget hotels, craft villages, convention centres and a
youth hostel. Over the next two years, the project is likely to fetch an
investment of more than Rs.300 crore.
Similar to Jharkhali, Gajoldoba,
at the confluence of two rivers in Hooghly district, is
being pegged as the 'gateway' to the Dooars. "The coastal spots will have
water sports and other adventure activities while the ones in the
ecologically-rich areas will have safaris, trekking, bird watching etc. Activities
will be specific to the locations of the eco tourism parks," said Basu.
The tourism department is also
working on developing two new eco-tourism hubs at Sylee, adjacent to Malbazar,
and Kunjanagar near Falakata in the Dooars over an area of 90 acres, with a
focus on tea tourism.
