A new eco-hut at Valmiki Tiger Reserve. Telegraph picture

Six new eco-huts, renovated watchtowers and guesthouses are reasons enough for tourists to throng Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR).

“Considering the upcoming tourist season from October, we have made a few additions to eco-tourism facilities. These include four new eco-huts at Gobardhana and two more at Naurangia done. Also, the wooden watchtowers at Ganauli, reached after trekking 30km, have been renovated. Similarly, the forest guesthouses at Madanpur, Manguraha, Ganauli, and Govardhana ranges have been completely renovated with new interiors and furniture,” said Santosh Tiwari, conservator-cum- director, VTR.

The forest department also got two eco-huts inaugurated at Kotraha and Madanpur ranges respectively last November.

Each eco-hut and guesthouse has a room with double beds. Visitors can book them either by contacting the district forest officer of West Champaran or on the VTR website www.valmikitigerreserve.com' www.valmikitigerreserve.com. A guesthouse costs Rs 500 a day and an eco-hut Rs 1,000 a day. “We are also going to work on developing a “tree-house” at Kotraha once the monsoon ends. It would be built on a very old tree having a complete natural surrounding and eco-friendly material like bamboo, coconut fibre and hay straw,” said Tiwari.

VTR is about 350km northwest of Patna in the northernmost part of West Champaran, bordering Nepal.

It extends till Royal Chitwan National Park and Parsa Wildlife Sanctuary of Nepal to its north and Uttar Pradesh to its west. Coming up by end of this month here is a 10-km-long nature trail. “We have already developed the road network for the nature trail and tenders for putting signage have been floated. The corresponding work would be completed in 15 days,” said Tiwari.

Then there’s also the jungle safari. Entry at VTR costs Rs 50 per person (12 years and above) and Rs 200 for private vehicle. Visitors can hire an SUV at Rs 600 for one full trip of the reserve. A maximum of four people in an SUV are allowed per safari trip. For a closer jungle feel, one could opt for an elephant ride at Rs 300 per trip.

An elephant can carry three people at a time and the facility is available at Madanpur range only.

Tourists can seek the assistance of trained guides by paying Rs 200 for first three hours and Rs 50 for every extra hour beyond.