West Bengal govt steps up amenities in Alipurduar

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government has pulled up its socks to give a boost to tourism in Alipurduar, which was declared a separate district in June 2014. The backward class welfare department, in association with the district-level tourism officials, made elaborate plans for developing homestay facilities and carving out new trekking routes in the district. Alipurduar is situated on the east bank of the Kaljani River in the foothills of the Himalayas and acts as a gateway to Bhutan and the north-eastern states of India.

“Blessed with thick forests and a variety of wildlife, Alipurduar exudes great scenic beauty. Hence, we have made elaborate plans for ‘Blue Home Stay’. The tribal families who have their residences in close proximity to the tourist destinations and are willing to spare rooms for the tourists and are being facilitated by the government to arrange for homestay facilities. It is promoting tribal livelihood as well as creating lodging facilities for the tourists,” Abhirup Bose, nodal officer for tourism in the district said. 

Twelve such homestays are ready and eight have already become operational. “We have plans to have in place 50 such facilities before the Pujas. The payment gateway for booking Blue Home Stay through website (bluehomestay.in) is expected to be operational by August,” Mr Bose said.

Tapping the potential of developing the place as a trekkers’ paradise, the trekking route from Santalbari to Buxa is being extended to Rupang Valley via Rovers Point. “Another trekking route from Santalbari to Adma, which is in the Indo- Bhutan border is being developed. Adma is known for the Bhutanese tribe Dukpa,” Mr Bose added.

The government has also taken up the task of creating a database of all the hotels in the districts and put it on a website. “We are creating our own logo and catchline,” he said.