Hills in no mood for festivities amid uncertainty

EOIC, KURSEONG, 21 Sep 2013: Although the festive season is just around the corner, the market places in Kurseong that normally would have been overcrowded at this time bear a desolate and empty look. 

Cloth dealer Bishnu Sharma said the town used to transform into a mad display of colour at this time, but those days seem to have vanished, adding the lack of enthusiasm among residents is last month’s bandh that brought everything to a grinding halt. 

Sharma said since most people here are either tea garden workers or government employees, and as both sectors have incurred huge losses due to the shutdown enthusiasm seems to have fizzled out entirely. 

Town resident Prasanth Rai echoes similar sentiments by saying as the long bandh has just ended, people cannot suddenly plunge in festivities. “Furthermore, to add to the woes, the Gorkhaland agitation has been suspended temporarily and is expected to resume as soon as the festivals get over,” he said.