Siliguri businesses facing heat with Darjeeling afire

EOIC, Siliguri, 24 Aug 2013: The business fraternity of Siliguri is dealing with a difficult situation amid the ongoing agitation in the Darjeeling hills, with many traders witnessing a drastic reduction in their business dealings.

According to Anand Agarwal, a garment merchant at the Gauri Shankar Market Complex, about 80 per cent of his customers are from the hills, but because of the agitation he and many other businessmen in town are seeing little or no business at all.

He said, “Our regular customers are from interior areas of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Mirik and Kalimpong. The festive season is knocking at the door but business is going downhill due to regular disturbances in the hills.”

Similarly, food grain wholesalers and distributors in Khalpara are worried about their business prospects as they depend totally on hill customers. Suvash Agarwal, a rice wholesaler from the Khalpara area, said he used to do business worth Rs1 crore on a daily average and all that depended upon customers from the hills.

He added if the agitation were to continue for a prolonged period, businessmen in Siliguri will have to think about alternative ways of income or even be forced to lock down their shops and warehouses.

Kailash Agarwal, another foodgrain wholesaler from Khalpara, said if the problem in Darjeeling is not resolved soon, businesses in Siliguri will start incurring serious losses.

Further, artisans such as idol makers are also helplessly staring at the impending fact of having to endure with a difficult period this festive season.

Kumar Ghosh, owner of one such idol-making workshop near the Kanchanjunga Stadium, said he has not received a single order this time from the hills even though Biswakarma Puja is just around the corner, on September 17.

“We normally used to get orders for more than 300 idols from Kurseong, Darjeeling and Kalimpong on a daily basis, but not asingle order has come this year,” lamented Ghosh.

(source & courtesy:http://echoofindia.com/siliguri-siliguri-businesses-facing-heat-darjeeling-afire-36524)