Forests in West Bengal will be opened for tourists from September 23, officials have said.
Every year the forests close down for two months due to the monsoon — from July 15 to September 15, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic the forests have been out of bounds for tourists since the beginning of the lockdown in March, they said.
The state government decided to open the forests ahead of the festive season as the prolonged closure was bleeding the tourism economy, they added.
The forests of West Bengal are like none other. Forests are strewn across the state from the northernmost tip, on the slopes of the high Himalayas, to the Dooars in the foothills, through several lesser-known forest, in the western tracts of the state and the fertile Gangetic plains, on to the magnificent Sundarbans on its southern edge.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Ravikant Sinha said the decision to open the forests was taken at a meeting chaired by Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee on Wednesday.
He said guidelines will be issued for tourists and the details will be decided at a meeting on Friday. Banerjee had earlier said that the government was working out modalities to open forests and national parks for tourists during the festive season.
The forest department has already initiated the process in this regard. Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee had a meeting with forest officials in Siliguri. He stated that they are working towards opening up the national parks and forests to tourists before Pujas. This should come as a big relief to wildlife enthusiasts and tourists alike.
Ravikant Sinha also added that guidelines regarding this will be issued for the same, and that the details will be decided during a meeting today. As regarding the guidelines, they will be based on the lines of COVID advisory of the Health Department to ensure that the forest staff, tourists, and other stakeholders have minimum risk of getting infected by the virus, informed a senior official from the state Forest department.
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