Darjeeling, Oct. 31: Tour operators in the hill town are up in arms against the forest department’s decision to prohibit camping on the Singalila range which is part of a national park.

Suresh Periwal, the chairman of the North Bengal and Sikkim chapter of Indian Association of Tour Operators, said: “Tourists have been pitching camps in the area for all these years. Now the forest officials have suddenly decided to stop it. This is definitely an anti-tourist move.”

Periwal said most of the foreign tourists who take the rhododendron trail (at a height around 12,000ft) from Meghma to Sandakphu prefer to camp in the forest instead of staying in the lodges that dot the route.

“These tourists simply refuse to stay in the DGHC huts or the private lodges. They prefer to stay in tents but if this is stopped, it will be a major deterrent for the tourism sector. After all this is one of the most popular trails in the region,” said Periwal. “They can always deploy forest guards to monitor these camps. If the tourists are found littering or spoiling the flora of the place they could take action instead of imposing a blanket ban suddenly.”

The forest officials, however, clarified that according to the Wildlife Protection Act such activities cannot be allowed within a national park.

“If any one is interested in camping they should get the required permission from the chief wildlife warden and can apply through the forest office in Darjeeling,” said S. Ghatak, the divisional forest officer (Wildlife-I).

Ghatak added that this was not a sudden decision taken by the department. “The rules have always been there and if tour operators were camping in the area, they were doing so without our knowledge,” she added.

Trekkers usually camp in places like Tonglu, Gairibas, Sandakphu, Phalut and also in Srikhola area during their trek.