High tourist footfall sparks vehicle crunch

TT, 20 Oct 2018, Siliguri: Tourists visiting north Bengal and Sikkim during the Durga Puja holidays have complained about acute shortage of vehicles.

At the transit points like Bagdogra airport, New Jalpaiguri railway station and Tenzing Norgay Central Bus Terminus in Siliguri, hundreds of visitors were seen standing with luggage, waiting for vehicles.

"As the inflow of tourists is huge this year, shortage of vehicles is a big problem. A considerable number of tourists have poured into north Bengal and Sikkim because of the deluge in Kerala and the current state of affairs in Jammu & Kashmir. The inflow of more tourists has led to a transport crisis," said Jayanta Majumdar, a transporter in Siliguri.

Sanjoy Bose, who is into private insurance and based in Calcutta, had made advance bookings for the cabs which would take them to Darjeeling from NJP. But even he was perturbed.

"I arrived at NJP at 9am and had to wait for three hours for the car, even though I had reserved it. The transporter concerned informed me that my car had taken a tourist to Darjeeling at 5am and would return to pick up my family. I eventually left at 2pm," said Bose.

Visitors like Kriti Bhatia, a call centre executive from Ahmedabad, were, however, ready to forget the delay once they got to see the snowcapped Himalayas.

"We took a train that reached NJP at 9pm. We were supposed to reach Darjeeling by 3pm. But the car arrived late and we decided to move via Tiger Hill and enter Darjeeling in the morning. After three days of train travel, it was excellent to watch Kanchenjungha and other Himalayan peaks at the dawn," she said.

Officials of the Bengal tourism department and those associated with the tourist industry said they were taking initiatives to ease the inconvenience faced by tourists.

"The tourist footfall is huge in the current season. It is necessary to make more and more vehicles available for tourists. We are trying to ensure hat no tourist is overcharged and visitors get vehicles on time. We are also into talks with hoteliers, tour operators and others," said an official of the tourism department.