The Queen of the Hills is slowly shutting out tourists with
major attractions being closed and homestays deciding not to keep guests
till March 31 in the wake of the novel coronavirus .
The
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration has decided to convene a meeting
with various stakeholders on Wednesday to decide on keeping Darjeeling
out of bounds for tourists, both domestic and international.
As of now, there is no bar on movement of tourists in Bengal but Sikkim stopped the entry of all visitors from Tuesday.
Group
Captain Jai Kishan, the principal of the Himalayan Mountaineering
Institute, said: “To avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus, the
museum, the adventure park and other amenities will remain closed to
tourists and visitors till March 31.”
The principal stressed that the decision was taken “not to create
panic but to stand together and win our fight against corona”. HMI
sources said revised dates for forthcoming mountaineering course,
climbathon 2020 and Tenzing Norgay MTB challenge, would be announced
later.
The Darjeeling wildlife division closed down Mahananda
Wildlife Sanctuary, Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, popular tourist spot
Tiger Hill and Singalila National Park from Tuesday “until further
order.”
Also, members of Mungpoo Eco-tourism Welfare Society,
which runs homestays, decided not to accommodate any tourists . Mungpoo
is about 30km from Darjeeling.
In Siliguri, three persons have
been kept at the isolation ward of North Bengal Medical College and
Hospital for having suspected symptoms of coronavirus.
Additional reporting by our Siliguri bureau
https://www.telegraphindia.com
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