When tour operators called the `chicken neck' a 'bottleneck'

Referring to the Siliguri corridor, a narrow strip of land that connects the Northeast with the rest of India  and shares an important border with Nepal.

MANAS RBANNERJEE, SNS, 3 OCTOBER 2022:  While Sikkim is considered a place that sells like hot cake among visitors from Bangladesh, another neighbouring country, Nepal, despite the wonder of the world's highest mountain range and whose scenic beauty is considered a feast to behold, has so far counted less number of tourists from Bangladesh in the post-Covid-19 situation.

Although there are many reasons, including road and air connectivity issues, a section of travel trade organisations, who gathered at Pokhara in Nepal to mark` Third Tourism Day recently, concluded that the "chicken neck is a bottleneck." They were referring to the Siliguri corridor, a narrow strip of land that connects the Northeast with the rest of India  and shares an important border with Nepal.

They also wished that "problems" at the border along the 'chicken neck' are resolved permanently to maintain a free flow of tourists from Bangladesh to Nepal via India. The organisations said that the same can be done through dialogue among the three countries.

It may be noted here that some concerns on the matter were raised in a recent meeting held in Kathmandu on Indo-Nepal border security and management.

Sources said that India's Sashashtra Seema Bal (SSB) has requested Nepal to check illegal entry of Pakistani and Chinese nationals into India through border points.

Significantly. the newly-introduced train from Bangladesh named the Mitali Express, arrived in New Jalpaiguri (NJP) station in Siliguri from Dhaka yesterday. Sources said the train was almost jam- packed. "Security arrangements were tightened yesterday and it took a lot of time for the passengers and officials to follow the procedures and to count the foreign nationals arriving in the Indian part," a source said today. "Many Bangladeshi citizens, who travelled to India yesterday in the Mitali Express and who left for Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal, and Gangtok in Sikkim, lost patience due to the delay in unlocking the doors of each compartment of the Mitali Express," the source added.

It may be noted here that the Nepali government plans to begin operations of a well-equipped Pokhara International/141)mi on 1 January 2023 for the development of air connectivity with many countries, including Bangladesh and India, for the development of the tourism industry centering Pokhara, which, Nepali officials have said may be declared as the 'Capital of Tourism' in Nepal.

Kathmandu-based Country Manager of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, AFM Anisur Rahman, said: "Bangladesh Biman has one flight Dhaka-Kathmandu Dhaka almost every day, except Tuesdays. Nepal's private Himalaya Airlines had regular flights earlier, but it is not flying regularly these days"

"Now, from October to mid-December 2022, there is a possibility of a lot of tourists coming in from Bangladesh. The reason for regular tourists from Bangladesh in Nepal is the on-arrival visa facility," Mr Rahman added.

It may be pointed out that air services between Bagdogra in Siliguri and Dhaka has been not only a demand of tour operators in North Bengal, but also people visiting this region from Bangladeshi low-ever, the same has remained a distant dream.

Similarly, Indian people in the northern region, who are interested in visiting Pokhara, wish to go directly by flight from Bhadrapur, just after crossing the Panitanki- Kakarvitta Indo Nepal border, keeping in mind the low-cost involved in doing so, but there is presently no such connectivity. If one has to go to Pokhara by air, he/she has to first go to Kathmandu and take a connecting flight from there.

Asked to comment, Eastern Himalayas Travel and Tour Operators' Association (EHTTOA) General Secretary Sandipan Ghosh, said: "The initiative Visit Dooars 2024, a destination in North Bengal in the Indian part, needs time to reach out to all. So 2023 will be the year for preparations and hopefully the initiative will gather pace by 2024."

On the other hand, NTB officials have been showcasing Pokhara as a paradise for adventure, a place blessed with abundance of natural endowments, a true paradise for both soft and hard adventure activities, which offers unique experience of a lifetime to visitors.

Notably, Pokhara has been a popular gateaway and resting place for trekkers and mountaineers since 1950. Front Pokhara, visitors can see several mountain peaks, including the three highest ones, Dhaulagiri (81(37m), Annapurna-I (8091m) and Manaslu (8163-m) in the Gandaki Province.

According to NTB officials, the panoramic views of the mountains can be admired from a close range of less than 40 km aerial distance and from tropical low land without any intermediate mountain ranges in between.

Besides mountaineering and trekking, there am opportunities for hiking, paragliding, ultralight and gyrocopter flights, rafting, mountain hiking, zipline flyer, bungee jumping, giant swing and canyoning with International Mountain Museum, five km from the Phewa Lake.

"The reflection of snowcapped high mountains of the Annapurna Range and Mt Fishtail (Machhapuchhre) on the surface of the Phewa Lake remains etched in the minds of Pokhara visitors long after they have left the place," said Pokhara-based senior guide Tulsi Subedi..