The tourist lodge at Valmikinagar. Telegraph picture

Patna, Feb. 21: Taken aback by the tourism department’s move to hand over the Valmikinagar tourist lodge to the environment and forests department just for renovation, Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) director Santosh Tiwari has written to the managing director of Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) reminding him of the November, 2011 directive of deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

Visiting the VTR in November last year, Modi, who also holds the additional charge of environment and forests department, directed the tourism department to hand over the lodge to the environment and forests department so that it could undertake its renovation work and run it with the help of the residents of the area.

The purpose of the directive was to ensure hassle-free stay of tourists so that the VTR could be projected as a destination for eco-tourism.

Almost four months after the deputy chief minister issued the directive, the tourism department on February 15 issued a letter stating that the building of the tourist lodge be handed over to the environment and forests department till its renovation. The tourism department also provided Rs 23.51 lakh for the work.

Surprised by the content of the letter, the VTR director has written a letter to the managing director of BSTDC reminding him about the directive of Modi during his visit to the reserve. He had instructed to hand over the lodge to the environment and forests department for its renovation and subsequent management with the help of eco-development committee so that residents of the area could be employed by involving them in its management.

Tiwari’s letter also states that going by the content of the tourism department’s letter it appeared that the building was being handed over to the forests department only for renovation. It also says that the building should be handed over to the forests department permanently so that the renovation work could be started.

Though Tiwari refused to speak on the issue claiming that he had already sent a reply to the tourism department, sources in VTR claimed that the forests department would not start the renovation work as it had agreed to undertake this work only after Modi had directed that it would be managed by the department with the help of residents.

“We had agreed to undertake the renovation work only because the deputy chief minister had specifically directed that this facility would be managed by us with support of local eco development committee. Unless this point is cleared by the tourism department, the renovation work is not likely to be started,” said the source.

Tourism minister Sunil Kumar Pintu appeared ignorant about the directive of the deputy chief minister.

“We had received a directive to release the renovation funds to the environment and forests department and we did exactly that so that the renovation work could be done,” Pintu told The Telegraph over phone.

He maintained that if the deputy chief minister directs his department to hand over the management of the said facility to the environment and forests department, the same would also be complied with.

At present, the lodge is not in a good shape. It is closed for the past 10 months.

The idea of renovating and using the lodge for providing food and lodging facility to tourists visiting the VTR was floated during Modi’s visit to the VTR. As no such facility is available for tourists at present in the vicinity of the VTR, the renovation of the lodge and its efficient management would help in attracting tourists to the reserve.