The road that leads to Pukhri Hill from Jainti. File picture

Alipurduar, Oct. 18: The forest department has resumed car safaris in Jainti after a year but has stuck to guidelines set by the National Tiger Conservation Authority that banned the rides in the core areas.

According to officials, the forest department has chalked out three alternative routes skirting the core areas for the car trips, and the safaris resumed before Durga Puja.

Jainti forest in Buxa Tiger Reserve is close to the India-Bhutan border and it is one of the favourite destinations of tourists, both domestic and from abroad. The car rides deep into the wild used to be one of the major attractions for the visitors.

The vehicles would take tourists to two watchtowers at the 26th and the 27th Mile from where animals like, elephants, bison, leopards, wild dogs, deer and wild boars could be sighted.

But the forest rides were stopped in August last year after the National Tiger Conservation Authority banned the entry of cars in the core areas.

Sources in the department said three new routes have been identified for the safaris; from Jainti to Pukhri Hill, Mainabari and Raimatang.

The resumption of the car safari has come as a big relief to tourism stakeholders in Jainti.

“We suffered a lot as tourist visits had come down by about 50 per cent (after the safari was stopped). Lodge owners and guides suffered losses. We are glad that the car safari has resumed and we are expecting to get more tourists. We have heard that the forest department has plans to construct watch towers along the new routes for the visitors,” said Shekhar Bhattacharjee, a lodge owner in Jainti.

He said 125 tourists could be accommodated in the lodges in and around Jainti.

“Our bookings dropped by 40 per cent since the car safaris were banned in the forest and many tourists became irritated since the service was no longer available. But now things are looking up and we are getting steady bookings. The 15 guides in Jainti who charge Rs 150 for each trip will also get their jobs back,” Bhattacharjee said.

The deputy field director of Buxa Tiger Reserve, Bhaskar J.B, said: “We are allowing the car safaris to run on alternate routes and not in the core areas. We have also submitted a proposal to the tourism department for the construction of three watch towers along the new routes.”