Bastar considered to be built as an eco-tourism hub

Thursday, September 2, 2021

In the dense forests of the Vindhyas in South Chhattisgarh, the Chitrakote Waterfall, popularly known as the Niagara of India, is in full glory in the monsoon season, with the sound of water crashing on the rocks reaching up to a kilometer.

It’s surely a spectacle to behold, and the waterfall is just one of 25 in Chhattisgarh’s scenicBastar region, regarded by many as a Naxal stronghold, and yet to make it to the bucket list of most tourists. However, the administration is working to exploit the potential of the region rich in mountains, valleys, streams, caves, national parks and monuments.

Despite its natural riches and huge eco-tourism potential, the people of the region have been migrating to other states in search of work.

It made the administration think: Can a self-sustaining economic model be built around eco-tourism, with locals as owners, to generate employment opportunities, stop migration and tackleNaxalism?

For the last one-and-a-half years, the Bastar administration has been working in the idea, creating samitis (committees) at the village level for carrying on tourism activities in their areas.

As per 2011 census, Scheduled Tribes account for 65.9 per cent of the total population in Bastar district.

The administration is also assisting villagers for creating a network of homestays in the region to provide tourists with authentic experiences of the daily lives of the local community, their culture, cuisine and art.

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