Periodic Unrest Hit Darjeeling's Development Plans: Mamata Banerjee

Digha: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said periodic unrest in Darjeeling has disturbed her plans to build the picturesque hill station as one of the best tourist destinations in the country.

She said that her development plans for the hills were spoiled because of the unrest which eventually affected the tourist footfall there.

Urging businessmen, local leaders as well as those in the administration in Digha in East Midnapore district not to create an environment which turn tourists away, Ms Banerjee said, "Things have been spoiled in the same manner in Darjeeling... I had dreamt so many things about (development in) Darjeeling. I had tried to plan many things in Darjeeling but if you have unrest in every 10 years then you cannot build on your plans."

Ms Banerjee was speaking after inaugurating the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Digha.

"Tourists come to Digha from Howrah, from Kolkata taking this road. We must keep it in mind that tourists who are coming here are not annoyed or face any problem... Do not forget that they are you Goddess Lakshmi and you should not drive them away," she said.

Stressing on the importance of protecting the environment of Digha, the Chief Minister asked the administration to keep a watch that stalls were not built on the beaches there. "Digha is a beautiful destination within a short distance. I request the people in the administration not to spoil the environment here in Digha by setting up stalls on the beaches and spoiling the greenaries. I will ask the IC here and the Digha development authorities to keep a look into this," she said.

Ms Banerjee said that a new Jagannath temple would soon be build in Digha. "I have gone to Puri, I am a devotee of Jagannath. Puri is a small place but they (Odisha government) could not build it the manner we have developed Digha. I have a plan to build a similar Jagannath temple here in Digha. There is a small Jagannath ghat here I had asked the district magistrate to renovate and upgrade it. We will also build Masjid and Church here... This will bring in more tourists here," she said.

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