The Sundarbans reopens doors for tourists

Thursday, November 5, 2020

The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reopened its door to tourists on Sunday after being closed for 7 months due to the ongoing pandemic.

Tour operators said that on the first day of reopening, 700-800 visitors entered the world’s largest mangrove forest on 16-17 ships.

The Sundarbans-based tourism industry has come back to life with this reopening.

Masum Babu, a tourist visiting the Sundarbans, said, “It feels great to be here after a long time. The forest has changed a lot as no tourist could visit it in the last seven months.”

A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change was held on October 19 regarding the reopening.

This meeting decided to reopen the Sundarbans from November 1 before the upcoming tourist season.

On March 19, for limiting the spread of Covid-19, the Forest Department announced a temporary restriction on movement of tourists and boats in the Sundarbans. The ban was maintained across the eastern and western Sundarbans till further notice was issued.

During the peak time for the Sundarbans tourism – from November to March every year – 45,000 plus tourists visit nine areas of the mangrove forest. Thus, the ban posed a financial crisis for the tour operators and traders.

Nazmul Azam David, the managing director of Rupantar Eco-Tourism Limited, said that the tourism sector of the Sundarbans lost about Tk 20 crore in the last seven months.

Md Moinul Islam Jamaddar, the president of the Tour Operators’ Association of the Sundarbans, said that health rules are being maintained for the 700-800 tourists who entered the eastern and western Sundarbans on Sunday.

The Forest Department is taking strong actions to ensure social distancing and use of hand sanitizers.

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