Tour agents’ guide to Siliguri development

Siliguri, Aug. 24: Tour operators today appealed to the Siliguri mayor to open a tourism department in the civic body and create the post of a member mayor-in-council for tourism to help lakhs of people visiting north Bengal every year.

The Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators’ Association also mooted a number of other proposals to develop infrastructure in and around Siliguri, which is a transit point for tourists to move to the Darjeeling hills, the Dooars, Bhutan, Nepal and even Bangladesh.

The proposals were part of a memorandum submitted by a delegation led by the association president, Samrat Sanyal, to mayor Gangotri Datta. The tour operators said the proposals were required to be implemented to render a facelift to Siliguri.

“Apart from commercial activities, the city has emerged as a tourism centre and gateway to the north eastern states and south and south west Asia. Tourists from different parts of India and overseas come to Siliguri round the year,” said Sanyal.

“Considering the regular arrival and departure of tourists, who require information on healthcare, accommodation, transport, trade and shopping, we have requested the mayor to set up a dedicated department for tourism in the SMC. The department can assist the visitors as well as the tourism stakeholders and take up the task of improving Siliguri’s infrastructure.”

On Monday, the tour operators met north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb and requested him to take necessary measures to promote tourism.

“There are several places of interests in and around the city which can be developed and promoted as tourist destinations. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Siliguri town station, Iskcon temple, Fulbari barrage where migratory birds come, and the Mahananda wildlife sanctuary at Sukna are some such sites which can be highlighted before the tourists. We are ready to provide all necessary support to the Siliguri Municipal Corporation,” said Sanyal.

The mayor appreciated the suggestions, but said the new post could not be created. “Creating a separate MMIC post for tourism is not possible right now. But we will consider the demand to create a separate tourism department at the SMC. We will definitely look into all the proposals and discuss at next the MMIC meeting,” said Dutta.

The tour operators said if their demands were fulfilled, the facade of Siliguri would change. “The city often earns a bad name from the tourists because of lack of organised services. We want all these services to be integrated and monitored by the authorities,” said a tour operator.

-TT