Patna, Dec. 14: Red tape has robbed New Year revellers visiting Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) the thrill of observing the big cats from close.

The environment and forests department’s plan of starting eco-tourism in the only tiger reserve of the state has met with a hurdle — government apathy in release of funds.

The renovation of the 13-room tourist lodge on the reserve’s fringes, locked up for the past eight months, was one of the key components of the project to ensure comfortable stay for nature lovers.

Renovation work entailed upgrading the quality of rooms and opening a restaurant in the lodge to spoil the tastebuds of the guests. During deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi’s visit to the reserve in the first week of November this year, a decision was taken that the forests department would carry out the renovation with funds given by the tourism department to the VTR management so that work could get over by December end.

Almost one-and-a-half-months have passed but the tourism department has not yet released the funds. “Non-receipt of funds has made it impossible to complete the renovation work by the year-end according to the wishes of the deputy CM. We require at least two months’ time for the work and things would now depend on when the funds are released,” a senior VTR official, preferring anonymity, told The Telegraph.

Furnishing reasons for delay in the release of funds, a source in the tourism department said: “I was surprised to see the noting of a junior official on the file concerned. Instead of forwarding the file, he made a query about the changes made in a past decision about the renovation of the same tourist lodge. His query needs to be replied to first. This has delayed the whole process.”

The past decision about which the official spoke about pertains to an earlier decision taken by the tourism department according to which the existing lodge was to be demolished and a new one was to be built at Rs 70 lakh. This decision, however, was changed, as after field inspection, the department officials felt that constructing a new building would mean wastage of funds and renovating the existing one would be adequate.

A sum of Rs 23.5 lakh was sanctioned for the renovation project and the same was to be sent to the VTR management.

Confirming the delay in release of funds to the VTR because of certain queries made on the file concerned, tourism minister Sunil Kumar “Pintu” said: “Things have now been sorted out and the fund would be released within a week.” He accepted that the delay in funds’ release would lead to a delay in launch of eco-tourism project. “I, however, would ensure that the renovation work is completed before the end of current fiscal,” he added.

The minister’s claim notwithstanding, senior officials of the forests department feel that the eco-tourism project might get delayed by a year now. “Tourists prefer visiting wildlife reserves between October and March. With renovation work likely to be completed by March, one can at the best hope to have just a few tourists in the reserve this fiscal,” said a senior forests department official, adding: “We hope that the eco-tourism project in the reserve gains momentum from October 2012.”