Forest officials take part in the census. Picture by Biplab Basak.

Lataguri, Nov. 23: Bowing to pressure from tour operators, the forest department allowed a group of Bangladeshi tourists to stay at its Hollong resort in Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, reversing its earlier decision to cancel all bookings at the lodge to facilitate animal census operations.

?Finally, the Bangladeshi visitors have been allowed to stay at Hollong in accordance with their bookings. It has come as a great face saver for us,? said Raj Basu, the executive president of Eastern Himalayan Travel and Tour Operators? Association (EHTTOA).

The association today staged a sit-in, on the fringes of Gorumara National Park around 80 km from Siliguri, to protest against the cancellations, which were made ?without any prior notification?.

Over 30 government and private lodges are losing out on tourists following the move.

The turnaround by forest authorities is a significant face-saving gesture on the government?s part, as the Bangladeshi tourists were on the verge of cancelling their trip and returning, promising never to come back.

Association secretary Samrat Sanyal expressed satisfaction that the government had at last bothered to take cognisance of the fact that such goof-ups cause immense harassment to tourists.

?The Bangladeshi tourists had booked the Hollong lodge one month ago. We came to know about the cancellation just yesterday. It is good that this time the government has responded to our appeal and allowed the tourists to stay on. This is a positive sign for the industry,? he said.

Conservator of forests P.T. Bhutia said he did not know whether the group had been allowed to stay on or not. ?But if the decision has been taken, it may be because they have come from far away and did not have a place to stay here,? he said.

Bhutia, however, clarified that the visitors would not be allowed to enter the sanctuary and could only stay at the lodge. He said a visit to the jungle would affect work on the census.

Census starts

The animal census began today in the wildlife sanctuaries and national parks of Gorumara, Jaldapara, Mahananda, Chapramari and Neora Valley, reports our Jalpaiguri correspondent.

The census is slated to continue till November 28.

Teams comprising forest officials and NGO representatives scouted the jungles on foot and elephant back for dung, hoof marks or other tell tale signs of animal activity.