The Bengal forest department has pressed a pause button on the collection of fees from visitors and vehicles entering reserve forests amid questions on whether the cash-strapped Mamata Banerjee government can afford to do away with a steady revenue stream.

“We will not collect fees from any visitor or charge any vehicle entering any national park or wildlife sanctuary in the state till further notification,” Bhashkar JV, the chief conservator of forests (wildlife, north), said on Friday.

The decision was taken following an instruction from chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was upset on Wednesday during an administrative meeting in Alipurduar when local MLA Suman Kanjilal drew her attention to the “high” entry fees and vehicle charges in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR).

Mamata — who has always shied away from levying user charges on utilities like water — immediately wanted to know on what basis the fees were fixed for entering reserve forests. She asked chief secretary Manoj Pant to take up the matter with foresters. Soon after, officials of the forest department issued orders, saying no fee would be taken from vehicles and tourists entering wildlife habitats.

Altogether, Bengal has seven national parks and 14 wildlife sanctuaries.

The forest department used to charge each visitor ₹150 to enter the BTR. The entry fee for a vehicle was ₹400.

In the Gorumara National Park in Jalpaiguri district, the department used to collect an entry fee of ₹200. An additional ₹80 was charged per person travelling in vehicles.

“If tourists have to pay hefty entry fees, they would feel discouraged to visit Buxa (Tiger Reserve) and other forests in the state. Instead, they will plan trips to states like Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand and it will impact the tourism sector,” Mamata had said at the meeting.

The halt in the collection of the entry fees led to a surge in the number of two-wheelers and four-wheelers entering the Buxa forest on Friday as hundreds of visitors turned up at the entry gate at Rajabhatkhawa, on the outskirts of Alipurduar, and drove inside.

“The abolition of the entry fee will lead to the unbridled entry of people to the BTR. Unlike the Jaldapara and Gorumara national parks, where visitors can enter only for a safari, one can go on their own to certain locations like Santalabari and Jayanti in Buxa,” said a senior forester.

Like the BTR, the department stopped collecting the fees in Gorumara, Jaldapara and the Neora Valley National Park. “In Gorumara, tourists have to pay the guide a fee as taking a guide on a safari is mandatory,” said a source.

A section of foresters pointed out that the halt in the fee collection would hit the earnings of the department, which had an allocation of about ₹400 crore in the state budget for 2024-25.

“The revenue earned through the entry fees and vehicle charges was used for the conservation and protection of nature and wildlife, and to repair and renovate the forest department’s properties. More importantly, around 40 per cent of the collected money was shared with forest protection committees (FPCs) and eco-development committees (EDCs) every year,” said an officer of the department.

The FPCs and the EDCs comprise residents of villages on the fringes of the forests. They spend the funds on development projects in their areas and the conservation of forests and wildlife.

“We doubt whether the villagers will support us if they do not get the funds. We are waiting for further orders,” the officer added.