BY DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY
KOLKATA, 9 SEPTEMBER 2023
One of the most popular tourism hotspots for both inbound and domestic tourists in West Bengal is the Bolpur – Shantiniketan, and the town is all set to add another new attraction.
The state forest department has been working on a proposal to set up a Mini Zoo in Bolpur to further attract the toursits in the destination, which is one the main cultural hubs of the country.
All through the year Shantiniketan attracts tourists and visitors from all around the globe and also from the country. Some of the biggest tourism attractions over the decades have been the Basanta Utsav and the Pous Mela.
During these very popular cultural festivals all the hotels and resorts in and around Shantiniketan and Bolpur remained booked as several lakhs of tourists arrived from India and abroad.
The West Bengal forest department has now planned to set up a Mini Zoo in Bolpur. Primarily the Santiniketan Deer Park ( Ballavpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Deer park near Sonajhuri hut) and the Egaro Mile green belt in Illambazar have been identified for setting up the Mini Zoo.
Recently, the TMC Labhpur MLA, Abhijeet Singhya has requested in a question answer session at the state assembly to the forest minister to set up a Mini Zoo in Bolpur to add further attractions to the tourists. Sources said that the state forest department has accepted his proposal and initial survey work has started already.
“ I am very much happy that the state forest department has responded positively to to my proposal. We are now waiting for the permission from the Central Zoo Authority. The shows of big cats- Tiger and Lions have stopped in Circus nowadays, the kids are unable to see them near their homes unlike earlier days and also it is not possible for everybody to visit the Alipore Zoo in Kolkata. So , when this Mini Zoo comes up they can see the wild animals and even the tourists will also get added attractions. It will also generate local employment opportunities,” added Mr. Abhijeet Singhya.
According to the Birbhum district civil administration, discussions are going on how to include the Eco Tourism Park along with the Mini Zoo to make it a wildlife and nature tourism hotspot.
Pradip Halder, range officer of Bolpur said that the forest department has expressed its satisfaction after inspecting the Illambazar Forests in Birbhum.
A Detialed Project Report will be prepared and will be send to the Central Zoo Authority very soon for approval.
Once the Mini Zoo gets started, there will be immense scope of development in the area and hotels, resorts, restaurants and homestays can be set up generating employment opportunities to the local people.
Visva Bharati University (VBU), set up by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, set up in his abode of peace, Shantiniketan is still the biggest tourism attraction of Birbhum district .
There are already existing Mini Zoos in the surrounding districts of Birbhum – Surulia Mini Zoo in Purulia and Ramnabagan Mini Zoo in Burdwan.
Temple Town of Tarapith, Joydeb- Kenduli and Bakreswar are the main tourism hotspots in Birbhum district.
Chief Minister Miss Mamata Banerjee is very keen to develop the travel and tourism sector in the state and her government has undertaken many infrastructural development projects in the tourism hotspots in West Bengal like Tarapith, Digha, Ayodhya Hills and also
in North Bengal areas.
Her dream project the Bengal Safari Park in Siliguri has already become a hit amongst the tourists in North Bengal and many wild animals will be introduced to make it more attractive soon including the king of the jungles, lion.
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