A man walks up the road that passes through Buxa reserve. (Anirban Choudhury)

Alipurduar, Nov. 4: The PWD has floated tenders for a metalled road passing through the Buxa Tiger reserve, which, foresters said, would spoil a trekking route and expose the core area of the reserve to unwanted tourists.

Recently the National Tiger Conservation Authority had in a guideline said big cat reserves should restrict the entry of visitors to the core areas. The 5km-long stretch that the PWD plans to develop belongs to the Buxa reserve and any work on it would have to be carried out after consulting its officials, R.P. Saini, the field director of the reserve, said.

Of the 5km from Santrabari to Buxa fort, 2km is motorable and one has to trek the remaining 3km. The forest department had constructed the motorable path in 2007.

“After completing the tender process, the PWD officials asked us for a no-objection certificate. The land belongs to the forest department but without any discussion with us, they floated the tenders, which is ridiculous,” said Saini.

The executive engineer of Alipurduar construction division of the PWD, P.P Sinha, had written to Saini, asking for a no objection certificate on October 13.

In reply, Saini has asked for the possession certificate of permissive use of forest land before and after the Indian Fo-rest Act, 1980, and the nature and dimension of the road that will be constructed. He also asked for a copy of a feasibility study and an environment impact assessment.

“According to the Indian Wildlife Act, 2006, no construction work, which may be detrimental to the ecology, geology and the well-being of the endangered flora and fauna of a region, can be allowed,” Saini said. The forest officer added that the department has plans to beautify the 3km trekking route. Shades would be built for the trekkers to rest.

“We will not allow the PWD to construct the road because according to the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority only the forest department can execute construction work in its core area,” said Saini.

Sinha, however, said the tender process for 4km had been completed. “Hopefully within six months the construction work will begin,” he said. The PWD engineer said feasibility studies were conducted before floating tenders for any project. “The same was done for this case. We will construct the road, the budget for which is Rs 4.5 crore,” he added.