Tura, August 28: Mandalgre village in East Garo Hills – located within the periphery of Nokrek Biosphere Reserve – will soon get its Eco-Tourism Camp as Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma laid the foundation stone for its construction as part of the government’s initiative of developing an Eco-Tourism Circuit in the region on Monday afternoon. He also laid the foundation stone for construction, including metalling and black-topping of a road from Chinabat to Mandalgre village.
Mandalgre, with nearly 700 house-holds, is one of the oldest villages in the Nokrek region which existed even before the Bristish era. It is famous for citrus plantation and rich flora and fauna with the potentiality to develop as an eco-tourism resort. Its scenic beauty with rare species of birds and orchids, orange orchards and pleasant weather conditions, has made it one of the favourite destinations for trekkers.
However, due to the absence of proper road connectivity, the people of this village had been facing a lot of difficulty and hardship in daily commuting to and fro their village to the nearest town and particularly in transporting and marketing of their agricultural produce. With the sanction for construction of this all-weather road from Chinabat, on Tura Williamnagar road, to the village, the long cherished dream of the people of Mandalgre will soon become a reality. Mandalgre village is also the last of the polling stations under Rongrenggre, the home constituency of Minister for School Education and Literacy Deborah C.Marak, who also accompanied the Chief Minister during the programme.
In his brief address on the occasion, the Chief Minister assured all support from the government so that the importance of this village will be known to all and the people of the village can flourish without having to go outside looking for opportunities. Referring to Nokrek Biosphere which has been claimed by the state as a gene bank of citrus, particularly Citrus Indica (locally known as Me’mang Narang) he said that stories created as such can attract a lot of tourists and bring a lot of revenue to the village and called for all line departments to work in convergence to create tourism products that will relate to the village.
A huge number of orange saplings were also distributed to the villagers on the occasion. The Chief Minister said that every family should plant at least 100 of them and the area being suitable for large cardamoms, he urge upon them also to go for its large scale plantation so that they can get high returns and create opportunities for generations of their children.
The occasion was also a historic one for the village as it was for the first time ever that a helicopter landed in the village and also the first time ever to be visited by a chief minister of the state. The programme was also attended by East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner H.B.Marak, officials of PWD, Tourism, Agriculture and Horticulture departments and other district officials from both East and West Garo Hills districts.
