Alipurduar, Sept. 27: Tourists to the Dooars will now have a new rest house in the heart of the forest.

Officials at Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) have announced that a forest bungalow has been built at Hatipota under the BTR (east). The rest house will have three rooms of which two will be open to tourists. Booking for these rooms will open after the Pujas. The capacity of the lodge at Jainti has also been increased.

Both rest houses will be under the control of eco development committees and will be run by members of local self-help groups, thus generating employment.

“We received Rs 8 lakh from the tiger project and have borne the rest of the cost ourselves. Besides the natural beauty, tourists can also trek or avail of the car safari,” said the deputy field director of BTR (east), Subhankar Sengupta.