SILIGURI: Buddha blames ‘them’ for growth block – CM warns of falling tourist figure
Posted by barunroy on December 8, 2008
FROM THE TELEGRAPH
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Bagha Jatin Park in Siliguri on Sunday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo
Siliguri, Dec. 7: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s agitation is crippling tourism in the Darjeeling hills, the chief minister said here today. Besides, it is also hampering growth.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee did not mention Bimal Gurung’s party by name while accusing the Morcha of stalling hill development.
“Such frequent strikes affect the people living across the hills. The ill-effects have been already felt as only 30 per cent of tourists turned up in Darjeeling this year so far, hitting badly the stakeholders, ranging from hoteliers and transporters to owners of small eateries,” said Bhattacharjee.
The chief minister was attending a memorial meeting for the late Siliguri mayor, Bikash Ghosh, at Bagha Jatin Park this morning. “We would urge them (Morcha) to refrain from such strikes and concentrate in resolving the issue through discussions at the tripartite level,” Bhattacharjee said.
During his public meeting at Phansidewa, 25km from here, yesterday, Bhattacharjee had categorically rejected the demand for a separate state and urged the Morcha to help the DGHC hold the elections and run it if the hill party came to power.
Samrat Sanyal, the general secretary of the Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators’ Association, agreed with the chief minister on the decline in the number of tourists to the hills but could not furnish data. “It is not possible to spell out the exact percentage in the drop, but definitely, a substantial decrease has been noticed in the inflow of budget tourists and flying travellers in Darjeeling this year,” he said. “There was however, not much difference in the movement of high-end tourists and those in the organised sector.”
Gopal Lama, the deputy director of the department of tourism (north Bengal), admitted that there had been a fall in tourists. “But that is only 15-20 per cent. However, we are yet to make the final calculations. In other words, 80- 85 per cent of the estimated number of tourists have visited the hills this time,” he said.
The Morcha leaders have lashed out at the chief minister for alleging that their movement has stalled development.
Raju Pradhan, the assistant general secretary of the Morcha who was at Pintail Village to attend a convention of the party’s tea trade union, said: “It is unbecoming of the state government to hold our movement responsible for disrupting development. Earlier, on several occasions, we had approached officials and ministers, pleading them to execute development schemes. At that time, the government knew no one but Subash Ghisingh (and did his bidding).”
“We have been observing the unprecedented delay in convening the second tripartite meeting and had no other option but to restart movement and alert the governments,” he added.
Before the public address at Bagha Jatin Park, Bhattacharjee met senior civil and police officers at the Siliguri circuit house to review the situation in the hills and in north Bengal as a whole.
“Considering the rapid growth of the Siliguri city and surrounding areas of the sub-division, the proposal to create the post of another additional superintendent of police (ASP) was discussed,” said Surendra Gupta, the district magistrate of Darjeeling .
“The existing ASP has to concentrate on the law and order in the city and thus, it was proposed that another officer of similar rank be appointed to take care of the rural areas of Siliguri sub-division.”
