State to revive four Darj trekking trails

Deep Gazmer | TNN | Jan 23, 2017, Darjeeling: Tourists visiting the Hills this April or May will get to walk through the original forest area of Darjeeling.. The wildlife division is set to revive four popular trekking routes that have now become mostly unused.

An initiative of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the wildlife division is working on a project to renovate the Nature Interpretation Center (NIC) at Tiger Hill and revive the four trekking paths. North Bengal Conservator of Forest Sunita Ghatak said, "Work is in progress to renovate the NIC at Tiger Hill. This aside, there are some beautiful trekking trails that we will revive by this May."

The trekking routes to be revived are the 5.5km Tiger Hill-Rambhi path, which is one of the oldest of the region, followed by the 7km Tiger Hill-Chatakpur, the 6km 3rd Mile-Dabaipani and the Keventer's Road-Tiger Hill, butterfly trail.

The routes offer birding experience and, if lucky, one can catch glimpses of wild animals like barking deer and wild boar and even leopards and black bear.

Ghatak said the objectives of reviving the trekking routes was to generate revenue and provide jobs to locals. "We plan to charge nominal fees for trekking along these routes."

The wildlife division has started training locals as guides to help tourists with the trails that will officially be open to the public from May.