Rs 5 crore for improvement of villages around Buxa Reserve

Pramod Giri, HT, 23 Oct 2016, SILIGURI: As a part of its public outreach programme, the forest department has decided to spend Rs 5 crore collected from different sources in Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) for the benefit of 13 forest villages located in the fringes of the reserve. State forest minister Benoy Krishna Burman said BTR Trust Board has generated revenue worth Rs 5 crore as royalty from sand, stone chips and boulders from Jayanti river and from tourism activities. 

All the money would go to help 1,000 families in 13 forest villages near BTR, the minister said adding the villagers would also be provided with free gas ovens and cylinders. This would largely reduce the forest villagers’ dependence on forest for firewood, said Burman. “The forest department is committed to improve the life of forest villagers joining hands with them to protect the forest and fight against the poachers and wild life smugglers.” 

Citing example of the arrest of four poachers along with AK 47 rifle and 46 live cartridges from Jaldapara National Park (JNP) in Alipurduar on Tuesday night, the minister said the seizure was possible only with the help of local people. Among many national parks and wild life sanctuaries in the state, BTR and Sunderbans have their own trust boards that plough back the revenues generated for the welfare of the local forest population. In North Bengal, BTR and JNP are the two places where forest department has allowed the extraction of riverbed materials like sand, stone chips and boulders.