Sunday, March 19, 2006

Raiganj(Kulik) Bird Sanctuary: The second largest bird sanctuary in Asia





Raiganj(Kulik) Bird Sanctuary is the second largest bird sanctuary in Asia. Several types of migratory birds arrives here each year from South Asian countries and coastal regions. The forest, water bodies and the river attract the migratory birds like Open Bill Strok, Night heron, cormorant, little cormorant & Egrets. Local birds like dove, bulbul, sparrow, king fisher, woodpeckers, owl, duck & cuckoo, can also be seen in large numbers. The migratory birds arrive from end of May to Ist week of July and depart from mid December to end of January. The nesting time is from July to August & egg laying from August to September. The flying training to the young ones is the best time to observe the birds, around October to November
No. of Migratory Birds : year 2004=76,208, year 2003=81,384, year 2002=77,012 2001=76,548, year 2000=59388. The vast and beautiful swamp land on the bank of a small river named Kulik is added attraction. Very few people knows about this place.

But from last few years number of tourist is increasing and becoming famous. The tourists who are visiting Darjeeling should come here for once.
Location of the place: Raiganj is District head quarter of Uttar Dinajpur District of West Bengal Sate of India. It is about 450KM From Kolkata and 250 KM from Darjeeling.
Best Time to Visit: Throughout the year but preferably October to January.
How to get there: Road: bus services available from Kolkata (Dharamtalla terminal) to Raiganj. (Freight Rs.175.00 -Rs.250.00) From Darjiling: => Siliguri => Raiganj (Total Freight Rs. 150.00-Rs.250.00) Railway /Train: A direct train from Kolkata (Chitput Railway Station) to Raiganj is available (Radhikapur Express). Departure Time (from Kolkata) :7.30 PM, Arrival Time (Raiganj) 6.37 AM,
Fare:
Class -- 2A Rs.689.00
Class -- 3A Rs.497.00
Class -- SL Rs.177.00

There are about one dozen trains that runs between Kolkata and New Jalpaiguri and stops at Barsoi Junction, which is just about 20 km from Raiganj. From Barsoi you can reach to Raiganj via road/local trains.

Air: Nearest Airport is Bagdogra (Siliguri)-1 70KM, Kolkata-450KM
Boarding: Five/Four star hotels are not available. But There are some good hotels. Rate: Rs. 200.00/per day onwards.

Languages: Majority of people speaks Bengali (Bangla) and Hindi. Few people understands English and can communicate in this language.

Contact: This is my home town if you want to visit this place and need any information feel free to contact me at
pankajx_xkrxroy@rediffmail.com
[Remove all X from the email id ]

Last updated: April 08, 2009