(Top) A bird’s eye view of Chatakpur and (above) a cottage of the forest department

Siliguri, May 18: Chatakpur has almost all the ingredients of a fairy tale, a picture-perfect scenery and a happy ending.

From the infamous village known for illegal felling, Chatakpur, 7km from Sonada, has now transformed itself to a tourist destination where visitors make a beeline for the lush greenery, wooden cottages, forest trails, trekking routes, and overall, a getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Foresters said the revenue earned from the project goes to the villagers. The charges are Rs 2,800 for Indians and Rs 3,800 for foreigners on twin-share (of a room) for 24 hours. It includes food, boarding, guide’s fees and charges for cultural events. Bookings can be done through travel agents or from the Senchal west range office in Jorebunglow.

“The transformation of Chatakpur is simply unbelievable. It was a notorious village with illegal felling and timber smuggling. We had to raise a separate camp for our staff to check the felling,” said Sumita Ghatak, the divisional forest officer who was in charge of wildlife-I till yesterday and who was behind the Chatakpur project.

“Through our consistent intervention we succeeded in changing the people who are now associated with eco-tourism as well as conservation of nature and wildlife.”

During the switch from a timber smuggling den to a tourist haven, the forest department electrified the village and brought drinking water to the hamlet inhabited by 80 to 100 people. Arrangement for sanitation was also made in each household.

“We developed the forest watchers’ camp into four cottages, and some ancillary infrastructure. We also made it clear to the villagers that their children would have to go to school,” the DFO, who has taken charge of wildlife II from Tapas Das, said.

Besides the four cottages, Chatakpur, 70km from Siliguri and above 3,000ft, has homestay facilities in five houses. The forest department has also introduced organic farming and tourists can handpick vegetables from the field for cooking.

Once a tourist reaches Chatakpur, he is flooded with a number of options. “He can enjoy the folk dance, climb up to the watchtower for a view of Sandakphu and the sunrise, spend time at the water body or pokhri or choose one of the trekking routes leading to different destinations, both uphill and downhill,” Ghatak said. “There are also rock faces to climb.”

The department has also trained seven youths of Chatakpur at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling who work as guides now.

“In short, Chatakpur is an ideal model of community tourism,” said Raj Basu, a stakeholder of the tourism industry in north Bengal and in the Northeast.