Siliguri, May 31: Tourists today grappled with overcharging vehicles and transport shortage in Siliguri as the gateway to the hills and Sikkim remained indifferent to their needs, citing the bandh called by the BJP.
Stakeholders in the tourism industry blamed the “spirit” of Siliguri for today’s tourist inconvenience, alleging that the town shut down on the slightest pretext.
Many tourists complained they had to pay extra to reach Tenzing Norgay Central Bus Terminus or New Jalpaiguri station or Bagdogra airport from the outskirts of Siliguri where they were dropped by taxis coming down from the hills.
Most travellers were unaware that the “extra” they paid was more than double the usual fare.
 |
| Tourists wait for vehicles near New Jalpaiguri station during the strike on Thursday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo |
“We are a group of 15 people and have reservations in the Sealdah-bound Darjeeling Mail tonight. Accordingly, we came down from Darjeeling this morning. The vehicle dropped us at Siliguri Junction where we got an auto-rickshaw which agreed to take us to NJP for Rs 350 for each trip,” said Santanu Bagchi, a banker and a resident of Barasat. “We had little option but to agree to his proposal.”
The normal fare for an auto-rickshaw ride for this distance is Rs 150 for four persons. Few private cars had come out on the bandh day but those on the streets charged double the normal rate.
Nilambar Sethia, a resident of Mumbai and his family, had to pay Rs 1,000 for a Maruti van which picked them up at Salugara and dropped them at Bagdogra.
“The driver of the taxi that brought us to Salugara from Gangtok said he would not enter the town, fearing attack from bandh supporters. He fixed another car for us and we had little scope for bargain as we had to catch the flight,” said Sethia. The normal fare is Rs 400.
Some hill taxis, however, agreed to drop the tourists at NJP and Bagdogra but for “tips”.
“We had agreed to pay Rs 4,000 to the driver who brought us from Darjeeling and dropped us in Siliguri. We told the driver that we would tip him Rs 400 if he drove us till NJP,” said a tourist.
Tour and travel operators felt Siliguri and its “nature” were responsible for today’s problems. “Siliguri is supposed to be a big business town but it shuts down on the slightest pretext. Or else how would you explain this situation? A political party with little support base in the area called a bandh and everything just shut down. The shutdown has little to do with the political party. Rather, it is in the spirit and the nature of Siliguri to close down and not work,” said a stakeholder of the tourism industry.
The business community has defended the decision to keep establishments shut on any strike day. “We oppose any strike as it directly affects the economy. But we cannot force our members to keep their establishments open. Who will take responsibility if the shops are ransacked or burnt down. They will suffer huge losses,” asked Biswajit Das, the general secretary of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, North Bengal.
Scenes of tourists being fleeced unfolded at NJP and Bagdogra too.
“Two rickshaws said they would take Rs 150 from NJP to Siliguri Junction. Since we bargained, they refused to take us,” said Rajkumar Ghosh, who arrived from Kharagpur and was headed for Darjeeling.
“Finally we settled for the third rickshaw, which brought us to Siliguri Junction.” The rate at other times is Rs 50.
The administration, which had been conducting raids to rein in tourist extortion, was almost a silent spectator to the tourists’ plight today. Asked for the reason, a police officer said: “We admit that there was rampant extortion today and we could do nothing. We were busy keeping a watch on the law and order situation. Besides, if we had started a drive, no vehicle would have come out and people would have blamed us for coming in the way of a normal life.”
Some tour operators brought their clients down from the hills early in the morning, dropping them at NJP or at Bagdogra hours before their departure time.
“This was done to avoid any inconvenience, which might crop up because of the strike,” said Samrat Sanyal, the president of the Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators’ Association. “We could, however, send tourists to the hills without hassle. ”
In the Darjeeling hills, dominant party, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, had said it would not “participate” in the strike.(TT)
0 comments:
Post a Comment