Alipurduar, Jan. 27: Three women’s self-help groups have developed a picnic spot at Poro, which in the last one month has generated a revenue of Rs 1 lakh.
For the past two years, the earnings from the spot, 15km from here, have been deterring the men of nearby villages from felling trees or smuggling timber.
The spot on the bank of the Poro was first identified by the forest department in the middle of 2007. Three self-help groups with 10 women in each were formed to look after the spot.
The department had under the joint forest management scheme funded the project.
“In the past two years, our men have realised the importance of preserving the forest. They even help us with our work on holidays when there is a huge crowd. On Sundays, we earn nearly Rs 15,000 and on the other days, a maximum of Rs 3,000. In the last one month, our income was Rs 1 lakh. Instead of felling trees, our men now patrol the area on their own,” said Arati Rava, the leader of Maichang Group, one of the three SHGs. The other two units are the Matri Group and Pedan Group.
A guard wall has been built along the river to save the spot from erosion during monsoon. An artificial water falls along with a watch tower, boating and swimming pool for children and two hanging bridges have been set up. The picnickers have to pay an entry fee of Rs 5. “We also charge for the watch tower and the pool. The charges are Rs 5 per head. For parking, we take Rs 20 for small cars, Rs 50 for small buses and Rs 70 for the big ones,” said Rava.
On Sundays and on holidays, the men of the village help control the crowd. “Our daily expense comes to around Rs 650 for the three pump sets that we run. The SHG members are not taking any money now. This is our first season. We will decide on how we will distribute the profits when the picnic season ends. That would be after Saraswati Puja. For the time, we are paying the men who help us Rs 80 per day,” said Rava.
A.P. Singh, the deputy field director of Buxa Tiger Reserve (west), said the forest department had put before the villagers the idea to develop the picnic spot.
“They appreciated the proposal and then work started. We have already funded a lot and we are still putting in money to develop the spot and control felling. We have been successful and the women of the self-help groups are happy about the money that they are earning. We are planning to start a restaurant in the spot so that the villagers can earn throughout the year,” said Singh.
Courtesy: The Telegraph |
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