Darjeeling: Akhilesh Chaturvedi, the Darjeeling superintendent
of police, on Thursday advised transporters and hotel owners not to be
"greedy" and think about the "inconvenience" of others and held Bimal
Gurung's 104-day strike agitation as an example.
The police organised an interactive session with hoteliers and
transporters at Dibyavani Hall here on Thursday in Darjeeling for
better preparedness before the summer tourist rush. Since June last
year, tourism has been hit hard.
Addressing the gathering, Chaturvedi said: "The number of
tourists visiting Darjeeling has increased by leaps and bound compared
to 10-15 years back. Darjeeling has limited space. Hotels have come up
but proper planning like accessibility to hotels has not been done."
"I would request all not to be greedy and try and earn more
this year to recover last year's losses. People should not be greedy.
Drivers stop right at the middle of the road because they are greedy
that they will lose on their passengers," said Chaturvedi who also asked
the gathering to be polite to tourists and curb vehicular pollution.
Taking about inconvenience, the police chief said: "One driver
does not think about the inconvenience of the other vehicle. They stop
whether the road is narrow or wide. Hoteliers should also not charge
more."
Chaturvedi then drew parallel to the "politics" of the hills.
"Actually, the political problem of Darjeeling is also the same. One
person for his convenience threw the rest of the public into 105 days of
inconvenience ....and tried to eat more than necessary and that is why
he had to leave the place and go," said Chaturvedi, clearly referring to
Gurung's three-month strike call.
"One should think of others' inconvenience and control greed," he
advised, adding "this will solve a lot of problem in personal, political
and cultural life".
"Tourists are chased away in a day, will such practice bring
more tourist?" asked Chaturvedi in a clear reference to tourists having
to leave the town in a jiffy in June.
S.N. Pradhan, the president of the Himalayan Transport
Co-ordination Committee, replied: "It was not the common people who
chased the tourists away, it was the leaders."
Chaturvedi replied: "It is said; a man is known by the company he keeps."
Pradhan also asked for better implementation of rules. "A
parking lot has come up but even after than (taxi) syndicates are being
opened in town and they said they are from Trinamul Congress or from
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha."
Later, speaking to the media Pradhan said the GTA, district
administration and police were working in three different directions.
"If the three wings work in tandem, a lot of issues can be solved."
The Telegraph