Tourists left in the lurch as panic grips Darjeeling Hills

Amitava Banerjee, HT, 10 Nov 2016, DARJEELING: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations has left the travel sector of the Darjeeling Hills in a lurch.

Nothing’s wrong with the view, but where’s the cash to pay the hotel bills or pay for the return journey? Lacking metro-type infrastructure, it has caused grave problems for tourists and many are even planning to cut short their stay and return home. “As soon as I saw the cancellation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations, I frantically started looking for an ATM and a Cash Deposit Machine (CDM). The single CDM of the town located at the State Bank of India stopped operations at around 11.30pm owing to link failure. The ATMs of the town were dispensing the same Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes that were of no use. From Wednesday morning, all ATMs and the single CDM remained nonfunctional,” said Manoj Singh, an Information Technology teacher from Mumbai.

A college excursion of KES Shroff College, Kandivali West, Mumbai, comprising 100 students and teachers saw many of the parents asking their wards to return home.

“There is panic all around. On the train, too, if we want to buy food for our students, the vendors will not accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Such a shocking decision in too short a notice,” said a teacher, Sarita Nair.

The excursion was heading out to Sikkim on Wednesday from Darjeeling. “We still have five days in Sikkim. All of us are carrying Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations as it is easier to carry while travelling. Now with this decision we don’t know what to do. Our parents are asking us to return but how can we make arrangements for train tickets to Mumbai,” rued Rushabh Mataliya, a second year college student.

A foreign tourist dubbed it as a nightmare. “This is not how we do things back home in the US. It seems my days in India will be spent queuing up at the ATMs and banks,” said Jon Hertz of New Mexico, US.

Not only tourists but others connected with the travel industry are facing all sorts of problems. Keventers, a highly popular eatery of the town especially among tourists, saw a dip in sales on Wednesday.

“I am not accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. There is a 40% dip in sales,” said Rahul Jha, proprietor of Keventers.

Himalayan Journeys is a travel agency that organises treks. It is faced with a peculiar problem. They have a foreign group to Uttarey and Dzongri in West Sikkim.

“I have engaged seven ponies from a remote village in Sikkim for 15 days. The trek starts from tomorrow and I have to pay the full charge to them. I have already given the amount in Rs 1,000 denomination. If they do not accept it, I will be in big trouble. Without ponies there will be no trek,” said Ajay Sashankar, proprietor.

Many tourists were facing problems with hotels not accepting the higher denomination notes. “The hotel we are staying in has already warned us that they will not accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes,” said Shampa Kundu, a tourist from Bali, Howrah.

Some hoteliers played good Samaritans.

“I will be accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations for some days at least. No one was prepared for this. We cannot harass tourists and will have to extend all cooperation,” said Debi Prasad Sarkar, manager of The Retreat.

Many hotels have also asked their clients to pay money online.