Guwahati: Julima Deka wants to see Bogamati as the adventure tourism hub of Assam.
Julima, who is a mountaineer herself, owns a trekking and adventure co-operative society at Bogamati, a picturesque place along the Indo-Bhutan border in Baksa district.
"It all began when I got a loan from Central Bank of India with subsidy from the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC). Purna Deka and I started the Green Trek and Adventure Tourism (GTAT), where we provide jungle trekking, night camping, butterfly and bird watching activities to tourists," she said.
Julima feels that adventure tourism is earning repute in Assam and Bogamati provides adequate opportunities. "Bornodi wildlife sanctuary is nearby. The Bornodi passes through Bogamati and connects with the Puthimari. For rafting, we can go on the Bogamati. The starlit skies attracts tourists for night camping," she said.
Julima hopes the arrival of more tourists would help her. "We prefer a group of five persons for the activities. For a single activity, including food, we charge between Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000. In a season, we get footfall of 20 to 30 groups," she said.
She lamented that the road to Bogamati was not up to the mark.
Although Julima was among the 120 trainees at the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) course on adventure tourism, she had ground-level training and was an example for others. She pursued a basic mountaineering course at Manali, Himachal Pradesh, and an advanced course in Darjeeling, north Bengal. She also took part in the Assam Pre-Everest Expedition, 2014.
IIE is organising activities like rafting, trekking-cum-waterfall climbing, night cycling and workshop on adventure tourism from Saturday to Tuesday.
Three rafts and two kayaks took off on the Brahmaputra from Hiloi Khunda near Pobitora in Morigaon district at 8am on Saturday and finished at Sukreswar Ghat in Guwahati at 2pm. Waterfall climbing will be held on Sunday inside Garbhanga reserve forest.
"Adventure tourism has huge potential in the Northeast. The rivers in Assam are in spate during monsoon, which is excellent for rafting. The Jiya Bharali is the best river to go rafting. Of the 120 trainees, 90 are earning a living out of adventure tourism," IIE director Manoj Kumar Deka said.
