Keep your plans for some rustic, affordable comfort in the lap of nature pending for at least two months .

The mud cottages at Makulakocha village inside Dalma wildlife sanctuary, 30km from Jamshedpur, are packed till December. With winter round the corner, it is tourist time at the elephant abode and visitors have made a rush to book the facility to escape the stifling city life and touch base with nature.

The five-room facility with attached toilets is located just behind the compound hosting the air-conditioned accommodations. It has come up on a plot of land owned by villager Shambhu Nath Singh.

The facility built by the state forest department at a cost of Rs 7 lakh is run by Singh and his team. Tariff for a room is Rs 600 per night, including Rs 100 for maintenance.

“The mud cottages have been booked by tourists, including some from Calcutta and Kharagpur, till December. Inquiries are pouring in for bookings but we are helpless,” a staff at Dalma forest range office in Mango said, adding that the bookings are from October 29 onwards.

Dalma range officer (west) Dinesh Chandra said the response for the cottages has been good and tourists are showing great interest.

“You can spend quality time in rustic surroundings. One will have a rural kind of feeling at the mud cottages,” he added.

Each room has ceiling fans, beds, mattresses and attached toilets. Tourists can order home-cooked food (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) of their choice which is prepared at a kitchen near the facility.

Village youths act as guards on night shifts.

According to Chandra, the idea behind setting up the mud cottages is to enable the landowner to earn money. “The villager gets Rs 500 (as tariff) and Rs 100 goes to the forest department for supplying electricity and maintenance of the facility,” he added.

Landowner Singh has formed a seven-–member committee comprising village youths to efficiently run the mud cottages.

“Log aa rahen hain. Van vibhag ne achchha kam kiya hain. Hum kama rahen hain (Tourists are coming. Forest department has done a good job. We are earning),” he said.

Tourists usually spend the mornings roaming in the wild before coming back to spend night in the cottages.