Paharpur, World Heritage Site, Bangladesh

Connecting World Heritage Sites through people’s participation between the two North Bengals of Bangladesh & India through tourism to confirm conservation of heritage and peace.


Help Tourism, initiated local community participation through tourism in another UNESCO declared World Heritage Site, PAHARPUR and their first site in Bangladesh with the assistance of Biplab Saha, the CEO of Sun Tourism and Taifiq Rahman, 1st Vice President of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB).



The first survey of the World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh was undertaken by Help Tourism in the year 2001. February 2009, one of the master degree ecotourism intern from University of Applied Science - Eberswalde/ Germany, Sascha Prinz from Help Tourism visited the Paharpur site and gave his inputs. After that, the meeting in TTF Kolkata in July, 2009 with the tourism industry of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Consulate at Kolkata raised hope that this was the right time to work on ‘people’s involvement in tourism’ and create the first model for Bangladesh.



Accordingly, the trip to Paharpur was undertaken between 9th to 11th September, 2009 by Raj Basu and Biplab Saha. The route taken from Siliguri was Chengrabandha, Burimari, Teesta Barrage, Rangpur and Joypurhat. Joypurhat being 10 kms from Paharpur, the nearest urban area with available logistics, we chose this as the base. The other reasons for choosing Joypurhat was the other National heritage interests being close by, easy road and rail connectivity and motivated people with good network at the nearby Bangladesh-India border.



The major interest is that Paharpur is a World Heritage Site, and we explained locally that 1) such a heritage confirms and enlightens the development of the communities who lived here, 2) and keeping aside our class, creed & religion, we must all be proud of it and bring back the old glory. 3) We further explained that tourism is the only window that opens to the world and we look forward to their involvement in tourism. 4) This will create wonderful easy land connectivity between the World Heritage Sites: from Darjeeling to Paharpur to Dhaka, uniting the two North Bengals. 5) This will help in cross-border relations and peace.



As the lonelyplanet.com mentions in its description very rightly, except the approach (getting to Paharpur) which is now quite easy:

The Somapuri Vihara at Paharpur was once the biggest Buddhist monastery south of the Himalaya. It dates from the 8th century AD. This is the most impressive archaeological site in Bangladesh; it was declared a protected archaeological site back in 1919, although the scholar-traveller Dr Buckman Hamilton had shown interest in it as far back as 1807. The name of the site has changed over the eons; it began life as Somapura (abode of the moon), then became Mahavihara (greatest monastery) before taking its current combination name. Getting to Paharpur is a bit of a pain on public transport, but it all adds to the element of discovery.



On the evening of 9th, we visited the Paharpur site. It was dark and person living near the site, he offered us his house to stay. The people near the site suggested that we go to Joypurhat and spend the night there. We put up at the Hotel Prithbi at the Thana Road in Joypurhat, where we were met by the Joypurhat Municipality Panel Mayor, Mr.Nandalal Parchi and his team. We had a long discussion, after which he was convinced that our concept for community involvement in Paharpur and adjoining places of interest will go a long way towards sustainable development of the entire area. He insisted that the next day, we should visit the Paharpur site and a few places of interest with his people.



On 10th morning we first visited Paharpur and surveyed the whole site, after which we met the Custodian, Md.Abdul Latif Pk at the Paharpur Museum. He discussed several points like the encroachment of the site by the local people through their activities in jute processing in the wetlands, cattle grazing, stealing of bricks etc. There are on an average 500 people illegally entering the site everyday. The other problem is about the salinity in the atmosphere and maintenance is tough. There is only one pump and it is difficult to avoid water logging in the monsoons. Guide engagement has not been possible. There is a lack of proper audio-visual material and equipment. Practical archaeological deficiency has left a lot of archaeological site Goalvita, Dhamurhat etc in distress. The practical orientation in the tourism industry is missing and hence proper interpretation has not been possible.



We were accompanied by Mr.Ashok Kumar Sarkar (Gaur) & Mr.Mrinal Kanti Sarkar (Minu) of Joypurhat. We visited some of the other places of interest like Baro Shiv, Sugar Mill etc. The other places are Mahasthal, Akkelpur and pagla Dewan. Everyone told us that we must visit Dhamurhat, Jagdalvihar and Patharghata, the description of which will be found in the book by Mr.Rakhal Das Bandhopadhyay. Every year at Hille border in India a festival is organized in respect of the Indian army, who have laid their lives in the Bangla Independence War. Also Mr.Dhananjay Rai of Kaliaganj has also written a lot on the heritage of this area. The other personalities who have an elaborate knowledge about this area are Mr.Shyamal Bhattacharya, ex-Headmaster of Bagora School, Dr.Martuja Khaled (Dipu), Islamic History Department of Rajsahi University and Mr.Samar Pal who is now a senior Secretary at Dhaka.



In the evening, we had an elaborate meeting of local personalities and NGOs presided by Mr.Aminul Haque Babul at Phulki and attended by Ad.Nanda Kishore Agarwala, Mr.Tapan Kumar Khan, Mr.Ranjao Kumar Kundu, Mr.Tapan Kumar Mahanta, Mr.Niresh from Rangpur, Mr.Apurba Sarkar, Md.Motinur Rahman, Mr.Sujan Kumar Mondal, Md.Monsur Rahman, Mr.Azizar Rahman and Mr.Gholam Haqkani.



The discussions led to the following conclusions and appreciations,

1) That this area has a reputation of terrorism and tourism will help to built good reputation and livelihood and hopes for the area.

2) Tourism will attract the confidence of Dhaka, as the circuit that is being planned is Dhaka-Paharpur-Darjeeling.

3) That good NGO infrastructure is available even to accommodate tourists.

4) That the area has good NGO capacity and good work reputation with the villages of the area.

5) It is possible to develop Homestays, several of them had good access to the private residential houses in Joypurhat through the initiative of developing the biggest infrastructure of Home Libraries in Bangladesh.

6) Also there is an opportunity to develop different kinds of Handicrafts and Handlooms.

7) One of the biggest difficulties is that Jotpurhat and the Paharpur site are in two different districts and have two different political parties in power, but the biggest advantage is that they have same linguistic accent and culture, and the two districts with the political have very good relations locally.

8) There is a wonderful Adibashi (tribal) area with rich culture.

9) That we must have a Paharpur Festival every year.

10) Organize a big Bangladesh-India meeting in the Raiganj/Kaliaganj/Balurghat area in this winter.



The meeting was coordinated by Mr.Nandalal Parchi and he was selected to lead the initiative of Connecting World Heritage Sites and developing Cross-Border Tourism with special reference to Paharpur in Bangladesh.

DOOARS FROG & TOAD FESTIVAL, a proposal

Dates 15th to 17th September, 2009.
Venue of the festival: Chilapata, Mendabari, Kodalbasti & Madarihat
Organized by:
Wildlife Circle (Coochbehar Division),
Department of Forests, Government of West Bengal
& Help Tourism
Supported by:
India Tourism Kolkata (Government of Tourism, Government of India), Mendabari Jungle Camp, Chilapata Jungle Camp, Association for Conservation & Tourism (ACT), Eastern Himalaya Travel & Tour Operators Association (EHTTOA), Society for Preservation & Awareness of Wildlife & Nature (SPAWN).

The festival was started in 2008 as Chilapata Ecofest on the same dates. Owing to impact of such festivals on the local people,specially the forest villagers in regard to conservation, the festival has been upgraded to Dooars Frog & Toad Festival involving the whole of the natural areas of Central Dooars.

With the change in the micro climate, the first change is seen in the localities close to the forests, mainly with birds and amphibians. Hence, this name 'Frog & Toad Festival', before we stop listening to their croaking, the loss monsoons that renew life and stop the migration of people who make the food for the world.

CYCLONE

The Sunderbans Inheritance. 11:44pm, 25th May, 2009The last phone was at 8:15 pm approx from Manoj at Sunderbans Jungle Camp, Bali to Asit’s mobile which said “Kaku ekhaner abasta khub kharap” (Uncle the condition here is bad). Unfortunately, the line was one way, Asit kept on shouting, tell me in details how bad, but all of us could understand that his voice was not heard on the other side.
The first phone in the morning was from Ajoyda (Ajoy Roy), the famous newsman, who warned that the weather condition was worsening in Sunderbans. He was concerned, as his love for Sunderbans takes him there almost every month. I send an sms to Asit about it and called up Shaktida (Retd. Col. Shakti Banerjee) and we decided to meet at the Help Tourism, Kalighat office in the morning.
By the time we met at about 11am, the office had turned into a co-ordinating camp office. The updates were received from the Sunderbans Jungle Camp every 10 minutes, being passed on to the various administrative quarters. The Field Director of Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, Mr.Subrat Banerjee called up Shaktida to co-ordinate army help, the same request rang from Chief Conservator of Forests, Mr.N.C. Bahuguna. The Help Tourism office suddenly became busy connecting Shaktida to the different ranks of the Army headquarters at Fort William which included the BGS, MGGS, Dy. GOC etc and also the Home Secretary, Mr.Ardhendu Sen.
Anil, the community leader for development in Bali and a poacher turned conservator with WPSI, was stranded in Canning and was sending updates from there. Mastermashai, the Chairman of our local conservation society reported in the evening that his school building was the shelter for several families in the village whose houses were gone with the wind and water. Four foreign tourists and a family of Indian tourists are caught in the Sunderbans Jungle Camp, the camp people informed that they had taken shelter in the room below the water tank, which was almost a three storied concrete structure.
The morning Bangla daily Anandabazar Patrika read, ‘destruction & rains being brought by Ayela’, a serious cyclone has hit the areas south of Calcutta (Kolkata). By the time the Sunderbans Jungle Camp was contacted, there were no boats to risk the water then. People had already taken shelter indoors. It was only day before yesterday, we (Manish, Ajoy, Bonani, Asit, Sanjib, Ranajit & I) had returned from Bali in Sunderbans after planning the rural health centre cum a mini hospital. This was after ACT (Association for Conservation & Tourism), a non-profit NGO supported by Help Tourism had already conducted more than a hundred health camps at Bali and decided that the solution is in a permanent infrastructure. It was several years ago, when the Sunderbans Jungle Camp was established in 2003 by Help Tourism, the first drinking water tube-well hand pump was established in that part of the village. We all exclaimed that the sky was Polaroid blue like the November sky and there was no sign of monsoon. We attended the ‘pathsala’ the children school and several other community development infrastructures. The sun was high and we had to take shelter under trees and people’s houses to avoid the heat. There was no sign of rain or cyclone visible to us, but alas, just after a day inbetween, this devastating cyclone. Both Asit & I are awake at the Help Tourism, Kalighat office waiting for information and taking action accordingly in the morning. Several concerned people have called me and offered all possible support, to name a few: Asish from Chennai, Pankaj from Mumbai, Jashoda from Gangtok, Ifte from Kolkata...

Tashiding, West Sikkim

Tashiding, the main centre of pilgrimage in East Himalaya, is located in the West District of Sikkim. Sikkim, referred to as the Bayul Demazong (Hidden Valley of Rice) in the Neyig (Guide Book to Holy Places), was blessed by Guru Padmasambhava himself. The centre of this blessed land is the most sacred establishment, ‘Dakkar Tashiding’, surrounded by four holy caves, Sharchog Bephug in the East, Khandozangphu in the South, Decchenphug in the West and Lhari Nyingphug in the North.
The Bumchu or the ‘Holy Water Vase’ festival is organized every year on the night of the 14th day of the 1st month of Tibetian Almanac. It is the celebration of the entire agrarian society of the East Himalaya, including Bhutan, where The Vase containing Holy Waters is kept in a miniature mansion (Chosham) under lock and seal of the Chogyal (King) of Sikkim, to be opened only during the particular occasion under strict supervision of Lamas and high officials. The quantity and quality of water decides the fate of agriculture and the society of the running calendar year. It is believed that a drop of Bumchu Water is the Seed of Enlightment.
The once very inaccessible Tashiding is well connected by roads and bridges maintained regularly by the Government of Sikkim. The more remote areas has have been recently connected by fair weather road under the initiative of the present Area MLA and Speaker, Mr.D.N.Thakarpa and his team of active Gram Panchayat (Village administration) leaders. Several remote and interesting villages has now become easily accessible from Tashiding, specially to mention the Gangyap village, dominated by the age old Lepcha Monastery, Sinlon Gompha and the Eklabya Tribal School. The Lepcha people believe that one of their greatest religious leaders had arrived here at the Sinlon Gompha with his disciples to create a new world in the late 1950s, but had to leave and finally walked into the glaciers north. The Eklabya Tribal School, housed in the more than 100 year old Lepcha house has students from various communities of the adjoining areas. The Principal boasts about the multi talented students, who care for their traditions and also excel in modern education, sports and music.
The road from here continues further north to Labdang village (7,000 ft / 2,100 mtrs approx) via Kongri waterfalls. The rock bee hives in the waterfalls starts becoming active from March end and so does the birds dependent on them. The road leads through the Lepcha villages to Labdang, which is dominated by the Gurung community, who are also Buddhists by belief. Labdang can be designated as the cleanest village and very hospitable people. The road ends here combining traditions with modernity, people with nature. Labdang is the base camp for the Areylungchok Dzongri Round Trek Expedition, Neythem Holy Cave Trek and several day and overnight trails.
There are several other villages like Mangham, Karjee etc which can now be heard of because of the road connectivity, but the major circuit would be a combine of Tashiding, Gangyap and Labdang villages. There is no major tourism infrastructure in this circuit and hence basic home stays are the main support for the visitors of all categories. A week long package program launched by Help Tourism with the support of the Gram Panchayats is a major breakthrough for the tourism in the East Himalaya, which in the long run would be instrumental in the formation of ‘Peace Parks’ locally.
Contact: http://www.helptourism.com/.

Celebrating Obama, Arunachal Pradesh.

pix:Sunset in the backdrop of Dibang Valley Jungle Camp

I think it was after 6pm on the 5th of November, 2008, Helmut suddenly appeared out of the dark and said ‘any news about Obama, guys’. We were six travellers, the famous German travel writer couple Renate & Stefan Loose, and the Malaysian couple from the legendary Singhasana lodge: Marina & Donald, travelling singly were Helmut & Sylvie from the German travel house Aerticket & I. All five of us relaxing in the veranda of Dibang Valley Jungle Camp after the wonderful excursion to Myodia Pass, looked at each other’s face. There was hardly any electricity or telephone connection in this out of the world place, the nearest internet booth would be a day away. Mukut, the camp in-charge confirmed, ‘Rajda, sometimes you do get a weak signal in the BSNL mobile connection’. I immediately took out my laptop and mobile, and felt at that moment, as if that was the most important thing that the world was looking forward to. Fortunately, I could connect to the internet through a very weak signal in that candle light and through the Google search downloaded the first news and read it aloud to the others like a radio news

History as Obama elected America's first black president
36 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Barack Obama on Wednesday faces up to the daunting task of forging the change he has promised after Americans emphatically elected him as their country's first black president.

Before I could read this first line everyone broke into a loud cheer, breaking the silence of the jungles louder than the Hoolock Gibbons did every morning. Everyone was hugging each other madly. I continued again

"Tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama told a euphoric crowd of 240,000 tearful supporters late Tuesday after defeating Republican John McCain.
Obama, 47, will be inaugurated the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, and inherit an economy mired in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a nuclear showdown with Iran.

We did not want to wait so long and discussed why not from today, as there will be lot of changes in the world by then, I still continued

"The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep, we may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," Obama said in his hometown of Chicago.
"I promise you -- we as a people will get there."
Television networks projected Obama's win over McCain after Senator Obama solidified traditional Democratic states and cut deep into the Republican territory which his rival needed to control to win the White House.
Obama's win was greeted with euphoria across the United States and reverberated around the world.
New York's Times Square exploded in joy at a moment of healing for America's racial scars and a crowd gathered outside the White House. In Kenya, where Obama's father was born, President Mwai Kibaki called his win "momentous."
Democrats also made huge strides in Congress, and will hold an unshakeable monopoly in power in Washington after a rare generational and political realignment.
After a bilious campaign, McCain was gracious in defeat, and noted that his election was a moment to cherish for African Americans.
"The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love," he said.
"Though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours," he told a crowd of supporters in Phoenix in his home state of Arizona.
President George W. Bush who has steered his country through eight turbulent years also congratulated Obama.
"Mr President-elect, congratulations to you," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino quoted the president as saying in a phone call to Obama.
"What an awesome night for you, your family and your supporters. Laura and I called to congratulate you and your good bride."
Obama's inauguration will complete a stunning ascent to the pinnacle of US and global politics from national obscurity just four years ago and close an eight year era of turbulence under President George W. Bush.
Obama is promising to renew bruised ties with US allies, and to engage some of the most fierce US foes like Iran and North Korea. He has vowed to tackle climate change and provide health care to all Americans.
His presidency also marks a stunning social shift, with Obama, the son of Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, the first African American president of a nation still riven by racial divides.
Forty-five years after civil rights icon Martin Luther King laid out his "dream" of racial equality, Obama's election broke new barriers and may have helped heal the moral wounds left by slavery and the US civil war.
When he launched his campaign on a chilly day in Illinois in February 2007, Obama forged a mantra of change which powered him throughout the longest, most costly US presidential campaign in history.
Early on on Tuesday he captured the state of Pennsylvania, the key battleground which McCain needed to win to keep his long-shot hopes of victory alive.
And in a sweet moment for Democrats, he also seized the midwestern battleground states of Ohio, Iowa and Indiana as well as the southwestern state of New Mexico, all states won by Bush in 2004 to close out McCain's possible route towards the White House.
McCain had argued Obama was too inexperienced to be US commander in chief and would pursue "socialist" redistribution policies that would leave the economy mired in recession.
McCain, 72, an Arizona senator, would have been the oldest man ever inaugurated for a first term in the White House.
Obama gave early notice of the way the night would unfold by capturing the key northeastern state of Pennsylvania -- McCain's best hope of winning a Democratic state and stopping his rival from claiming the White House.
He later added Ohio, the decisive state which swept Bush to victory in 2004 and another Republican state, Virginia, which had not voted Democrat since 1964. He also won Florida, ground zero of the 2000 recount debacle.
So far he had won 28 states including the district of Columbia for 349 electoral votes.
McCain had won 20 states but had not broken out of the Republican heartland and the south for 159 electoral votes.
In the Senate, Democrats wrested control of five seats including in the traditionally Republican state of Virginia, followed by New Hampshire, North Carolina and New Mexico, reaching a 56 seat majority in the 100-seat chamber.
Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell clung on in Kentucky, meaning Democrats were unlikely to win the 60 seats they need in the 100-seat chamber needed to frustrate Republican obstruction tactics.
Senate races in Alaska, Minnesota, Georgia and Oregon however were still too close to call.
Democrats also won 20 seats in the House of Representatives, solidifying their majority to 251 against 171 of the Republicans. Six House races were still too close to call as of 1000 GMT.

Three different nationalities, everyone burst in joy and we celebrated the evening with all that we had with the rest of the camp people. We were in this exploratory trip of the East Himalaya covering places and people in remote Northeast India. None of this information is available in the regular travel maps and guide books. After a late night party in the jungle, it was really impossible to wake up the next day early morning and get into the planned activity, but we had no other option then to manage. For the next few days of the trip, we all discussed about the coming of Obama as a new hope for one world in peace and not in pieces.

Kaziranga, Community cultures

THE RHYTHM OF THE GRASSLANDSKaziranga was declared as a game sanctuary in 1905. The name was inherited from the Karbi word Kazi and Ronga, meaning boy and girl. Today, it is not only a world heritage site, but has no match in the world.

Hundreds and thousands of visitors from around the globe visit Kaziranga. One of the primary economical resource is tourism, but a major share of the ownership in this economy lies with the people who do not belong to the villages around Kaziranga. This lack of participation and share of the villages around in and around Kaziranga in the economy from tourism in the park makes it vulnerable to several anti-conservation activities routed through these villages, taking opportunity of the poor economic conditions.

However, in the past some good community participation efforts were made by Wild Grass, which inspite of not being in the prime location of Kaziranga as per the present tourism development, have remained the most popular infrastructure among western visitors because of the local community involvement. It should be mentioned here that even in the worst political disturbance in Assam, Wils Grass in Kaziranga managed to attract tourists.

The next effort came around five years back with the endogenous tourism project (ETP), being launched by Government of India, Department of Tourism in collaboration with UNDP. Amongst, the several rural sites, they chose the village of Durgapur, close to the main tourist hub hub of Kaziranga, known as Kohra. The District Collector (DC) of Golaghat and a local NGO, NEST being the implementing agencies. The main reasons for choosing this village was its proximity to Kohra, being next to the National Highway and being a part of the typical assamese society. Most of the first ETP sites were chosen nationally considering its easy connectivity and a comparatively socially well to do community to enable sure success.

Other than tourism, the other economic activities are dependent on the proximity to the National Highway, like easy supply of agriculture produce and locally run enterprises on the road side. Tea also supports the economy of the area, but has reached stagnancy and engages a huge work force who do not belong to the forest villages. The forest dwelling villagers mainly belong to the Karbi and Missing communities.

Quite recently, Help Tourism has been considered as the resource organization for community motivation, product identification and packaging for the rural tourism projects or ETP sites in East and Northeast India. This is completely a voluntary exercise being undertaken by Help Tourism, considering its mission to spread the ‘community tourism movement’. This gave me the opportunity to visit Durgapur in Kaziranga twice officially. The first with Mayura from UNDP and the second is with my colleague, Asit.

Trip reportPresently, the National Highway between Jaklabandha and Bokaghat runs almost through the northern bounderies of the Park. It has been planned for all practical reasons of conservation, that the Prime Minister’s East West four lane expressway will avoid this alignment and connect Jaklabandha and Bokaghat. This means a fall in local economy and increase of human pressures on the Park. The only sustainable tool which should be planned with immediate effect is to consider the area between Jaklabandha and Bokaghat be declared as the ‘ECOTOURISM ZONE’. Bokaghat can then become the tourism hub and the activities may be planned to include natural and cultural heritage. The wildlife experience, tea tourism experience, Karbi experience, Missing experience, Assamese experience and the river experience may be considered for long stay activities. Considering, the need, Help Tourism has already started initiating dialogues at several levels.
There was a time when the riverways were a major means of transport, and the River Brahmaputra was the life line. With all the rivers meeting Brahmaputra, it formed a big network. One such river in the east of Kaziranga is Dhansiri River. Two small villages, one belonging to the Missing community and the other belonging to the Assamese community existed next to each other, at a place where Dhansiri met Brahmaputra. Then there was a big flood, which forced the Assamese village to shift near the highway in 1959, known as Durgapur. The Missing village known as Dhuba Ati continued to remain where it was, on the easternmost boundary of the park next to Agratoli range, getting water logged for more than three months during the monsoon season, along with the park.

DurgapurFor the last five years work has been carrying on in Durgapur in hardware and software development in tourism as per the guidelines from UNDP and Government of India, Department of Tourism. After the last visit, a tourism day package has been finalized to be launched on 27th September, 2008 on the ‘World Tourism Day’. The package will be based on a number of minimum five visiting tourists or their price equivalent. The package price will be around Rs.500.00 per visitor. The time will be between 11am to 2 pm, when the tourists are lacking activities. The details will be as follows-
Welcome at the gate,
The Namghar experience,
The rock theatre show,
Community lunch,
Visit handicraft families and
The farewell.

Dhuba AtiIn addition to the Assamese cultural experience, Dhuba Ati village has been identified for the Missing cultural experience. Help Tourism in collaboration with NEST has identified a local Missing NGO, ‘DAGRAB Ecotourism and Eco-development Society’ to run the tourism activities next to the Agratoli range. The package is yet to be decided as the work over here started only after my first visit and the product has been identified after the second visit. A survey was done during both visits, the first visit was mainly for community meeting & motivation, and the second was field survey & discussion with the Range Officer of the Agratoli range of the park has also been consulted during the second visit. The upcoming tourist lodge near the range office should be considered of being managed by this active Missing youth group in the NGO. The details will be available from the 1st of November, 2008. The activities being under consideration for the upcoming season are as follows
Boat trip to the Dolphin habitat,
Dhuba Ati village trail to explore the local culture and traditions
The Missing community feast.

The Karbi ExperienceIt was quite encouraging to find the Karbi Along Autonomous Council was making the huge tourist village, the infrastructure was under construction. This for certain will be the hub for the Karbi experience, if handled in the right way with the help of the Karbi community.
It is high time, when the state should act to bring about a concrete co-ordination between all the positive developments taking place under the joint effort of the Tourism and Forest Ministries. This action now will help to fill the gap as ecotourism being the tool for sustainable development, mainly during the crisis when the traffic will be diverted to the new express highway.

The gateway to East Himalaya