Patna: Bihar government is betting big on eco-tourism.

If all goes well, the state government is set to develop Bettiah, Bhagalpur and Rajgir by end-December by providing enhanced tourist facilities.

All this started last year when chief minister Nitish Kumar during his visit to Valmiki Nagar Tiger Reserve (VTR), situated on the India-Nepal border, asked senior officials to develop eco-tourism facilities at Sofa temple and its surrounding areas to attract tourists. "There could not have been a better place to develop eco-tourism facilities than this region, stretching from Sofa temple till Valmiki Nagar," Nitish had said and the officials were asked to come up with detailed project reports.

"Though the eco-tourism schemes have been taken up by the forest department over the past couple of years, we want to develop and promote eco-tourism facilities at VTR so that local tribes and other traditional forest dwellers could earn their livelihood," said D.K. Shukla, the principal chief conservator of forests.

Various options of eco-tourism, including jungle safari and trekking, are already available at VTR, Shukla said, before adding: "Various new facilities are on anvil for tourists such as setting up Swiss tents, houseboats similar to those in Kashmir to attract tourists. Caged jeeps will also be provided to tourists so that they can travel safely in less time and are also able to see wild animals from a close range. Plans are also afoot to start an air service between Patna and Valmikinagar."

Last year, around 35,000 tourists had visited VTR and the target is to double it this year, the principal chief forest conservator said.

VTR spreads across 900sqkm, with 600sqkm in the core area and rest buffer.

Tigers, cheetals, sambars, barking deers, wild boars and Indian bisons are the major attractions here.

Moreover, development work to start jungle safari at Rajgir will be complete soon, a tourism department official said.