Crash sparks advisory against `rushed' hill trips, night travel

A representative of a tour operators' association pays respect to the deceased in Siliguri on Wednesday. (Passang Yolmo)

TT, 25 Oct 2018, Siliguri: Tour operators have advised visitors to north Bengal and Sikkim to refrain from drawing up "rushed itineraries" and avoid travelling in the hills after dusk.

The advisory follows Monday night's Sikkim accident in which five tourists from Bengal died when their vehicle plunged into a gorge.

"There had been accidents which have led to loss of lives of tourists while they were travelling in late evening hours at the hills. The accident that claimed five lives on Monday evening should be an eyeopener for all of us, especially the tourists. They should keep in mind that the curvaceous roads are always risky after dusk and if there is a fog cover, it only adds to the vulnerability. We would always suggest tourists to move during late hours and finish their day's travel latest by 6pm or so," said Samrat Sanyal, who is associated with Global Connections, a Siliguri-based travel house.

Representatives of the Eastern Himalaya Travel & Tour Operators' Association (EHTTOA), said tourists who plan trips on their own are mostly found travelling in the hills at odd hours.

"Tourists visiting the region as per itineraries prepared by us hardly have the chance to travel in evening and night hours. We do not plan the trips in such manner, knowing how treacherous the hill roads can be, particularly in monsoon and winter months. The movement is kept limited from dawn to dusk and the evenings and nights are kept for leisure or visit to a local market or restaurant," said Sandipan Ghosh, general secretary, EHTTOA.

Those working at transit points like Bagdogra airport and New Jalpaiguri station also pointed that a section of tourists act in haste after arriving by flight or train.

They mentioned that there are some tourists who want to head to the hills immediately, even if they have arrived by an evening flight or got off a train at 10pm.

"They are reluctant to spend the night in Siliguri and want to reach at their destination. Also, there are some others who want to cover the maximum number of destinations, even though the days of trip are limited," Jayanta Majumdar, who runs a cab service in Siliguri, said.

He mentioned that a section of drivers, who ferry tourists in the hills, should also be alerted. This is because during the tourist season, they want to earn an extra buck by agreeing to carry tourists to destinations at night hours.

"Social media can be used to propagate awareness and people should understand that an itinerary drawn in haste can affect the trip," said a sen- ior hotelier of Darjeeling.

Meanwhile, senior police officials of the west dis- trict of Sikkim confirmed that the accident that claimed five lives on Monday had occurred as driver of the SUV tried to overtake another vehicle at Tinzerbong. There were seven passengers at the vehicle, heading to Kuluk from Nam- chi.

"The accident has oc- curred due to overtaking. The driver could not manage to control the vehicle and it went off the road. A case has been registered against the driver," said Tenzing Loden Lepcha, SP, west Sikkim.