Tourists to Gorumara travel on one of the newly introduced bullock carts. Picture by Biplab Basak

Siliguri, June 15: Visitors to Gorumara National Park can now go off to see rhinos riding a bullock cart.

To put the brakes on pollution and give tourists something new, the Bengal forest department today, for the first time, introduced bullock cart rides on the fringes of the forest area.

“Bullock carts for a 3-km jungle trail will prove to be an added attraction for tourists,” said Tapas Das, the divisional forest officer (wildlife-2). “At the same time, it will decrease pollution and help forest villagers earn as drivers and guides.”

The bullock carts are for tourists visiting Gorumara and the adjacent Kalipur eco-village, Das added.

Under the present arrangement, tourists need to travel in their cars to Ramsai located on the fringes of the national park. The eco-development committee has opened ticket counters there. The tickets are priced at Rs 20 each for adults and children alike.

“Each cart, manned by a driver and a guide, will carry six passengers to Medhla, around 3 km away,” said eco-development committee secretary Manik Sarkar. Medhla, located right on the edge of the core forest area, has a watchtower and a salt pit, where visitors can hope to see rhinoceros, elephants, various kinds of birds and maybe even leopards.

“From Medhla, the tourists can go to Kalipur, just a few hundred metres away,” Sarkar added. At Kalipur, the eco-development committee, comprising 87 members, manages four cottages with accommodation for 12 persons. It charges Rs 800 per person per day.

The visitors will have to return from Kalipur on their own vehicles, which would be sent ahead of them once they start off from Ramsai on the bullock carts.

“Four bullock carts will operate on the Ramsai-Medhla route, though we may increase the number depending on the response from tourists,” the forest officer said.

This bullock cart ride will create employment for at least 25 more people, he said.

Eco-development committee members like Janaku, a driver, and Sujoy, a guide, are buoyant about the new plan.

“We have been running the Kalipur eco-village for a few months now. Tourists always ask for something new,” said Janaku. “We are positive that this ride will be a hit.”

Sujoy added: “We had been anxiously waiting for the launch and finally the service started today. As the core forest areas will remain closed till September 15, we hope to pull in tourists with this new attraction.”