Sundarbans reopens doors to tourists

The Sundarbans will be opened to tourists from Tuesday. After being closed for three months, the World Heritage-listed Sundarbans, the green heart of Bengal, will once again be bustling with local and foreign tourists and all kinds of forest dwellers.

During the closure of the Sundarbans this year, all the tourist centres except the Karamjal Eco-Tourism Centre were closed.

Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, DFO (Divisional Forest Officer), said tourists will be able to enter the Sundarbans from September to May 31.

In addition to the three-month ban on all types of fishing during the fish breeding season, tourists were also banned from entering all tourist spots in the Sundarbans, except Karamjal Tourist Centre.

After the ban is lifted, visitors will be able to board launches, tour boats, trawlers and various other watercraft at various places along the coast and in the forest areas of the Sundarbans, including Katka, Kachikhali, Harbaria, Hiron Point, Dublar Char and Nilkamal.

In addition, fishermen, tour operators, and launch and boat drivers who depend on the forest have made preparations in advance to enter the Sundarbans.

Tour operators and the Forest Department expect that numerous tourists will flock to the Sundarbans every day as rainfall decreases following the long closure.

Azad Kabir, officer-in-charge of the Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre, said various projects are being implemented to develop the tourism sector around the Sundarbans with government allocations.

As part of this, a one-kilometre footpath has been newly constructed at the Karamjal tourist spot. In addition, a suspension bridge and an RCC bridge have been constructed.

He also said an information centre has been built at Karamjal to provide tourists with information about the Sundarbans.

Hopefully, after the three-month closure, the number of tourists will increase at all the tourist centres in the Sundarbans.

Therefore, those in charge of the Forest Department have made various preparations, including arranging the forest spots.