e-ISSN: 2582-5208 International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science Volume:03/Issue:03/March-2021 Impact Factor- 5.354 www.irjmets.com SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN DOOARS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO COOCHBEHAR, WEST BENGAL, INDIA Probir Ch Barman*1 *1B.A Honours in Geography, Department of Geography, Bakshirhat Mahavidyalaya, 736159, West Bengal, India. ABSTRACT Tourism is as an important tool for human development and sustainable livelihoods. It is an important source of income, employment, environmental and biodiversity development. The Dooars are the alluvial floodplains in eastern-northeastern India. It lie north of Brahmaputra river basin and south of outer foothills of the Himalayas. There are three districts of West Bengal situated in dooars region namely Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Coochbehar. For present study I select only Coochbehar district of West Bengal. Once a princely State, Coochbehar is known for its natural beauty fine climate and its culture. The sculptures of the Mughal Periods, and the temples of the medieval and late medieval periods reveal that the ancient kingdom of Kamrup played an important role in the d0evelopment of the present Coochbehar. The major attraction in Coochbehar districts is the Koch king Maharaja Nripendra Narayan’s palace. This magnificent palace was built by the Maharaja in 1887 designed to resemble the classical European style of the Italian Renaissance. Coochbehar is also famous for Rasik Bill, Gosanimari Rajpat, Baneswar Siva temple, Sagardighi, Madhupur Dham Temple, Kamteswari Temple and Madan Mohan Bari. It was found from the study that the Coochbehar districts of West Bengal had a potentiality to become an established sustainable tourism spot. Keywords: Sustainable tourism, Coochbehar, Tourism development, Impacts on tourism. I. INTRODUCTION Tourism is travel for pleasure or business so without travel there is no tourism. The concept of sustainable tourism is tightly related to the concept of sustainable mobility. Local communities are benefited from sustainable tourism through job creation, and infrastructure development and economic development. Tourism revenues bring economic growth and attract tourist which raise the living standard in local communities and increase infrastructure in tourist destination. According to west Bengal tourism department the word “Dooars” that means the place where nature has kept its doors open. Coochbehar district located in this region. The forest type is dense natural forests with green tea garden. The major rivers in Coochbehar are Testa, Torsha, Jaldhaka and Kaljani. Rainy season is generally starts from the month of May to month of September. Winters season is average cold. Summer season is slight warm. The native people were generally Schedule caste (Rajbongshi). The existing familiar tourist places of coochbehar are Rasik Bill, Gosanimari Rajpat, Baneswar Siva temple, Sagardighi, Madhupur Dham Temple, Kamteswari Temple and Madan Mohan Bari. However the major impact of Tourism viewable on the local environment, and the economy. The present study gives comprehensive outlook of the local beneficiaries (in both ways) of tourism in the coochbehar district. The development of tourism and various impact it has brought in the district Coochbehar analysed in detail in this paper. Objectives of the study: The paper establishes the relationship between tourism and its various implications on the local people of coochbehar. The purpose of the study is to estimate the socio cultural, environmental and economic effects for develop sustainable tourism in the Dooars region. Putting an emphasis to know the positive and negative impacts of growth with increasing tourist inflow in Coochbehar. This paper will help tourists to gain an insight into positive alternatives for better sustainable touristic approach in Coochbehar. Study area: Coochbehar is a city and districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. It situated in the outer foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at 26°22′N 89°29′E. The elevation of coochbehar district is about 48 meters above mean sea level. The river Torsa flows by the north-western side of coochbehar town. Heavy rains often cause strong www.irjmets.com @International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering, Technology and Science [1727] e-ISSN: 2582-5208 International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science Volume:03/Issue:03/March-2021 Impact Factor- 5.354 www.irjmets.com river flood. The turbulent water carries huge amounts of silt, sand and pebbles, which have an adverse effect on various crop production. Alluvial deposits form the soil acidic. The soil depth varies from 5.9 to 19.7 inches superimposed on a bed of sand. The soil has low levels of nitrogen with medium levels of potassium and phosphorus. Deficiencies of boron, sulphur, magnesium, calcium and zinc are high. Coochbehar is a plane region with a slight south-eastern slope. Most of the highland areas are found in the Sitalkuchi subdivision, and low-lying lands lie in Dinhata subdivision of coochbehar districts. Six rivers that cut through the district are the Teesta, Kaljani, Raidak, Jaldhaka, Ghargharia, Gadadhar, and Torsha flows from northwest to southeast. The district coochbehar does not experience very high temperatures at any time of the year. The daily minimum temperature is 9.4 °C (48.9 °F) in January the coldest month, and maximum temperature is 32.2 °C (90.0 °F) in the month of August, the hottest month. The highest temperature recorded in Cooch Behar was 41.0 °C, on 11 September 1977 and the lowest temperature 3.3 °C, recorded on 28 January 1982. The atmosphere of the study area is highly humid. The average annual rainfall in the region is 140.2 inch (3,562 mm). Coochbehar is one of the planned city in the Dooars region with remnants of its royal heritage. LOCATION MAP OF COOCHBEHAR IN WEST BENGAL, INDIA Figure 1: Location map of Coochbehar. www.irjmets.com @International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering, Technology and Science [1728] e-ISSN: 2582-5208 International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science Volume:03/Issue:03/March-2021 Impact Factor- 5.354 www.irjmets.com II. METHODOLOGY The potential area for sustainable tourism in Dooars area of Coochbehar districts were to be identified for the study. Both Qualitative and Quantitative parameters have been used in the study. The respondents were cover the tourists, locals and functionaries at the survey time. At first, we have to collected secondary data and information from library and internet. Then we have collected primary information from the field. A structured interview questionnaire was prepared for collection of data. The relevant maps have been prepared in QGIS 3.2.3 software. Descriptive research design was followed to obtain precise information and reach to a valid conclusion. The survey was done during January to February 2021. The discussion part of the study has been prepared by combining the quantitative results along with a comparison of ongoing trends in Tourism in Dooars area of coochbehar districts. What is sustainable tourism? Sustainable tourism is an industry committed to establish a suitable balance between the economic, socio- cultural and environmental aspects of tourism development, plays an important role in conserving biodiversity, generate income, job opportunity, and the conservation of local ecosystems. With sustainable tourism, environmental impacts are neither stable nor irreversible. Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities" (UNWTO) Impact of sustainable tourism: The impact on sustainable Tourism can be broadly categorized as economic, socio- cultural, and environmental. Economic Impact: There are both positive and negative effects found on local communities related to the economic impacts in sustainable tourism. A positive impact can refer to the increasing living standard of life for locals, increase in jobs and an increase in wealth of an area. Tourism also has the advantage of rebuilding and restoring historic, cultural and religious sites. Positive growth started when there is an increase in employment for locals as the tourism industry automatically becomes more developed. A negative impact can refer to the jobs are often seasonal (based on the time of year) and are poorly paid, Most money goes out of the area to big companies, not locals, Damage to the natural environment, e.g. footpath erosion, litter, habitats destroyed to build hotels and restaurants . Socio Cultural Impact: In coochbehar, locals involvement on tourism activities has made them to earn and spend well amount of money which they later on use to provide good education to their children. The development of social standard of living is also visible in terms of communication system, schools, libraries, hospitals, roads, rail, internet cafes water quality and social amenities like clothing, food, etc. Environmental Impact: The common environmental concerns in Dooars region are: ►Ecological damage of natural areas by improper tourism development. ►Waste disposal problems where tourist dump the waste in an around the spot. ►Cutting and logging of trees for constructing roads, accidental forest fire caused by tourists, soil pollution by burying of non-biodegradable glass and plastic bottles, and plastic bags. ►Stress on wild animals,