"Dooars" The Hidden Beauty
North Bengal is always knows as a Switzerland of West Bengal, India. The mesmerizing beauty and unforgettable landscape are the best part of North Bengal. 'Darjeeling' a heritage tourist site which is popular all over the world, but "Dooars" is mostly neglected by travelers over the years. But last couple of years due to the political conflict the tourist are shown more interest in Dooars. This is my 1st Blog, and I try to explain more about Dooars through it.
Dooars mostly known for it's Tea Production. But the truth is Dooars can compete with any tourist spot in India.
The most important part of Dooars is it's wild life. 'Jaldapara Wild Life Sanctuary' is India's one of the biggest Wild Life Sanctuary. Toto tribes and Mech Tribes (Bodos) used to stay in this area before 1800. At that time this place was known as “Totapara”. Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1941 for the purpose of protecting the Indian one-horned rhinoceros. In May 2012 it was declared a national park.
The forest is mainly savannah covered with tall elephant grasses. The main attraction of the park is the Indian one-horned rhinoceros. The park holds the largest rhino population in India after Kaziranga National Park in Assam. Other animals in the park include leopard, elephants, sambar, barking deer, spotted deer, hog deer, wild pigs, and bison.
Jaldapara is a paradise for bird watchers. It is one of the very few places in India, where the Bengal florican is sighted. The other birds to be found here are the crested eagle, Pallas's fish eagle, shikra, Finn's weaver, jungle fowl, peafowl (peacock), partridge, and lesser pied hornbill. Pythons, monitor lizards, kraits, cobras, geckos, and about eight species of fresh water turtles can also be found here.
Many of the animals in the park are endangered, like the Indian one-horned rhino and elephants.
Another important place for Dooars Wild Life is "Gorumara National Park"
Gorumara was a reserve forest since 1895. The park was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1949, on account of its breeding population of Indian rhinoceros. It was declared an Indian National Park on January 31, 1994. Originally as small as 7 km2, Gorumara has grown by incorporating neighbouring lands to about 80 km2.
There is no history of human habitation in the park. The park forest bungalow dates back to the British Raj era, and contains a well-maintained log book from its inception, which makes for interesting reading. However Gorumara is encircled by many ethnic villages. More than 10,000 resident forest villagers derive their income from sources including employment in forest department activities, ecotourism, etc. Some of the villages are Sarswati, Budhuram, Bichabhanga, Chatua, Kailipur and Murti Forest Village.
The park is rich in large herbivores including Indian rhinoceros, gaur, Asian elephant, sloth bear, chital, and sambar deer. Small herbivores include barking deer, hog deer and wild boar. There is a comparative lack of large carnivores, with the only big cat being the leopard. The park is not home to any resident population of Bengal tigers,Indian wild dogs, or Indian wolves. Tigers are, however, occasionally spotted here. It does have numerous small carnivores including various civets, mongooses and small cats. The park has a large resident population of wild boar, but the critically endangered pygmy hog has been reported from the park. It also has numerous rodents, including giant squirrels. The rare hispid hare has also been reported from the park.
Chilapata Forest is another Good place for those people who love Wild life. It's near from Alipuduar Town (20 k.m. away). It forms a elephant corridor between Jaldapara Forest And Buxa Tiger Reserve. The forest used to be home to large Rhinoceros populations. In hunting expeditions in 1892-1904, in and around Chilapata Forest, the Maharajah of Cooch Behar recorded killing one rhino, injury of one, and sighting of over 14. Rhinos now extremely rare.Leopards are still common.
It is hoped that eco-tourism will provide a new source of income for the indigenous Rabha people, who now depend on the forest mainly for firewood.
Inspite of having so many wild life sanctuary the scenic beauty of dooars is just mesmerizing. The following mentioned place is the example of it
1. Chalsa
2. Samsing
3. Jaigaon
4. Coachbihar
So take your time, make your plan and visit Dooars and Darjeeling. Where scenic beauty never ends...
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