Darjeeling the ‘Queen of Hills’ is one of the most popular tourist destinations in northeast India. Situated at an altitude of 2134m, Darjeeling, with its exquisite scenic beauty, attracts travelers of varied interest. Darjeeling is the abode of Lord Shiva and offers spectacular views of Kanchenjunga and the hospitality of colorful Himalayan people. Darjeeling’s tea plantations lie under the shadow of the snowy Himalayan giant. Darjeeling is just 78 km from Siliguri (the major rail and road head) and is well connected by Buses & jeeps.
Darjeeling has a total population of 1842034 persons as per the 2011 census which is about 2 percent of West Bengal’s population. Largely the population is dependent on the tourism sector and tea producing sector for their livelihood. Currently, Darjeeling economy is facing political instability which is adversely affecting their business environment and employment. Darjeeling’s contribution to the West Bengal economy was 2.2 percent in 2008-09 and the growth of Darjeeling has always been higher than the west Bengal economy. Any fall of Darjeeling economy also affects the West Bengal economy and large number of people particularly engaged in unorganized sector loose their livelihood.
Darjeeling is basically an agrarian economy with hardly any industrial base. At present only three commodities are exported from this region viz: tea, orange and woolen garments. Darjeeling’s tea industry that comprises of 87 gardens which employs about 70,000 workers, is the largest industry of the region.
Since 2008, second time Gorkhaland movement has started and the impact can be seen from the tea production. The annual tea production data suggests that Darjeeling tea production had been witnessing a downward trend since the movement has started. Tea production has declined from 901 lakh kg in 2008 to 820 lakh kg in 2012 that is an average decline of 2.3 percent every year. “Because of these strikes in the last few years, tea gardens here have often failed to keep their commitment of supplying tea. The industry is losing its reliability in the domestic and global markets because of uncertainities”.
After the announcement of Telangana as a new state, the demands of the Gorkhaland movement has been rising and continuously calls for “Bandhs” which creates roadblock for the operation of tea plant and thus affects the tea production.
This year the weather has been good for the production of tea but the political weather seems to vitiate the tea production plant therefore the tea industry is estimated to loss almost 25-35 percent of its production, according to the telephonic survey conducted by ASSOCHAM.
As per the ASSOCHAM calculation tea industry is estimated to incur losses of over Rs. 25 crore in hopeful case and in the worst case scenario i.e. if political instability continues for log time then tea industry is likely to loose about Rs. 35 crore of its production in 2013-14.
Tourism is one of the most important sources of income in Darjeeling which has been severely impacted from the bandhs. This is because political unrest always raises the issue of security of the tourists. As per the telephonic discussion with Darjeeling tourist consultants, almost 80 percent of tourists have reportedly cancelled their scheduled visits and the hospitality industry has been in doldrums.
As we can see from the below table, total number of tourist in 2008-09 were 4.95 lakh and there has been a sharp decline in the tourist arrival in Darjeeling thereafter. In 2010-11, tourist arrivals have witnessed a sharp increase indicating that political stability brings the confidence in the mind of tourist. The current year bandhs again have created fear in the minds of tourist which will affect the arrival of tourist in Darjeeling.
As per the ASSOCHAM telephonic surveys, almost 65 to 75 percent of tourist have withdrawn their plan to visit Darjeeling, therefore the tourism industry is likely to incur a loss of Rs. 35 crore. If the situation gets even worse then the tourism industry is likely to incur a loss of Rs. 45 crore in the financial year 2013-14.
Darjeeling is fast losing its appeal to foreign tourist. “Foreign tourist makes their plan well in advance. Even, if the situation normalises there will be fewer foreign tourists in coming months, as hardly there has been any booking for last one month.
The hospitality sector is closely associated with the development of tourism sector. Thus the decline of tourism arrival will affect the hospitality industry. Currently, on an average every day incurring loss of Rs. 25,000-30,000 by the hospitality industry where March to December is peak period for tourism industry in Darjeeling. The continuing strikes and violence have had cascading effects on small and budget hotels, as well as large upscale hotels. Tourists have started cancelling their plans due to which around 1,500 hotels in Darjeeling are vacant.
As per the ASSOCHAM calculation, the collective loss of Tea industry and tourism industry will be almost Rs. 60 crore in the hopeful case and in the worst case the loss will be Rs. 80 crore during 2013-14 and many of people have been unfortunately rendered jobless.