Only 23 taxis pass Tiger Hill test

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 02 Sep 2019: Darjeeling: Only 23 taxis were allowed to enter Tiger Hill while 107 vehicles were turned back from Jorebunglow on the first day of the implementation of new entry system to this sunrise point in Darjeeling.

Darjeeling police had earlier announced that only 300 vehicles would be allowed to enter Tiger Hill, which falls under Senchel Wildlife Sanctuary, from September 1 and that the drivers have to obtain a free coupon on a first-comefirst-served basis.

"The police checked the coupons and only 23 taxis had obtained the coupon. The rest of 107 vehicles were returned to Darjeeling for not possessing coupons," said a police officer. Tiger Hill is about 3km from Jorebunglow.

Darjeeling police had started this initiative to regulate traffic flow at Tiger Hill, which according to the police, cannot take in unlimited number of taxis. Vehicles from Tiger Hill park themselves along NH-55 at Batasia Loop and police believe that this is one major reason for huge traffic snarls in the area during the tourist season.

From Sunday, vehicles coming from Tiger Hill were routed through the INA bypass-Gandhi Road to enter Darjeeling town.

The police complained that authorities of Batasia Loop did not cooperate with them on Sunday and kept this tourist point open from 5am instead of 10am as suggested by the police.

"Since taxis park their vehicles along NH-55 when tourists visit Batasia Loop, we have decided not to allow any vehicles parked in the highway near Batasia Loop from today," said a police official.

Overall, there was less traffic congestion along this route on Sunday.

A new system to drop tourists visiting Darjeeling Zoo and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) at the parking plaza near Darjeeling Government College was also implemented from Sunday. The move is aimed at decongesting Lebong Cart Road.

However, the police did not implement its decision to reopen HD Lama Road to traffic from Sunday. "Since there are many hawkers along this stretch, we need to thrash out some issues before throwing open the road to public," said an official.

Some Darjeeling residents feel that HD Lama Road should not be open for traffic. "Opening this route to traffic would only mean that there would be even less walking space in town for pedestrians.

In fact, the need of the hour is also to create more walking space in Darjeeling town," said a resident.

Organisations like the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents and Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network have opposed the vehicle restriction to Tiger Hill, maintaining that this would affect tourism in the region. But other associations like Gorkha Ekta Chalak Sangatan have welcomed the decision.

Bharat Tirwa, spokesman for the Sangatan, said: "In any case, during the peak tourist period, almost 40 per cent of the vehicles cannot reach Tiger Hill. So we do not see why this restriction should be opposedThe tourist season starts from October.

The police have said they were ready to review how the system works if the need arises. The demand for setting up a paid private parking space on the rooftop of Beef Market is also gaining steam in Darjeeling.

"There is not a single dedicated parking space for private vehicles in town. Every space has been taken over by commercial vehicle syndicates in Darjeeling," said a resident..