The 100-year-old Rydak forest rest house located in Buxa Tiger Reserve (East). Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar, July 22: In early 1933, the then governor of Bengal, John Anderson, stopped for four days at the Rydak inspection bungalow, located in what is now known as Buxa Tiger Reserve (East), to take part in a hunting camp. His daughter accompanied him, along with the conservator of forest, Edward Oswald Shebbeare, and a number of other high-ranking officials.

Between February 10 and 13, the hunters shot down two tigers in the nearby Tiamari forest. However, the big cats did not go down without a fight. On the afternoon of the 12th, a tiger killed one Sergeant Adams in the same forest in what is recorded as an “accident”.

While Anderson left on the 13th, three police officers — DIG P. Walker, police superintendent E. Holdon and Commissioner Drummond — stayed back for another five days, killing two more tigers just behind the bungalow on the bank of the Dhaowlajhora.

The hardbound register at the 100-year-old inspection bungalow, later renamed a forest rest house, offers many such glimpses into the past. It promises to be the centre of attraction at the centenary celebrations of the bungalow to be held on August 15 this year.

“This is the first time that the Bengal forest department will celebrate the centenary of a forest bungalow. It will be a small programme, which will be attended by S.S. Bist, the chief wildlife warden of Bengal,” said Suvankar Sengupta, the deputy field director of BTR (East).

“Records from 1928 to 1967 are available with us thanks to the register. We are trying to find out the names of those who worked in Buxa or stayed at the rest house during that period. We will contact those who are alive and try to bring them to the rest house on August 15,” Sengupta added.

The foresters are also planning to bring out a publication delving into the bungalow’s past. “The book will focus on the historical background of the bungalow, which was built by the British in 1908 to serve as a hunting and shooting camp,” said the forest official.

Sengupta added that Buxa was an old forest division and the Rydak range had always been important because it lay on the way to Assam. In the past, people going to the north-eastern state on horses or vehicles would often stop at the bungalow in Rydak.

Most of those who stayed at the bungalow before Independence took part in hunting, killing a variety of birds and animals. According to the register, tigers, elephants, leopards, barking deer, sambar, wild buffaloes, imperial pigeons and pea fowl were found in the Buxa.

In preparation for the centenary celebrations, the bungalow has been given a fresh coat of paint, said the deputy field director of BTR (East).

“The building has remained the same over the years. We have, however, installed solar lights. A lot of people come to stay at the bungalow even today, attracted by the natural beauty of its surroundings,” Sengupta added.