Darjeeling: The Tourism department of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) is all set to add more muscle to adventure tourism in the Hills.
Darjeeling Kalimpong Adventure Association (DKAA), an umbrella organisation for adventure activities has been constituted under the initiative of the GTA that will be monitoring all forms of adventure activities in the GTA area. Stress has been given to security measures to ensure safety.
“There is immense potential for adventure sports and tourism in the GTA area. We will give emphasis on this sector. Present trend shows that tourists these days are preferring rural areas and offbeat locations, far from the hustle and bustle of cities and towns. This further enhances the scope of adventure activities,” stated Dawa Gyalpo Sherpa, Chief Coordinator, Adventure Tourism department, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, while talking to Millennium Post. “We have got a speed boat and kayaks for rescue operations in case of any emergency situation during rafting,” stated Sherpa. White water rafting had been introduced in River Teesta at the Triveni and Melli stretch in 1991 by the erstwhile Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. It has gained immense popularity.
The Darjeeling and Kalimpong Hills also offer Paragliding, mountain biking, rock climbing and trekking. “We are opening up new routes for mountain biking and trekking,” added Sherpa.
On May 29, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Mt Everest summit day, the GTA reopened a 12-km-long trek route that had been traversed by legendary mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, to mark the occasion. The Tenzing Norgay Hiking Trail is a 12-km-long trek from Chowrasta to Tiger Hill (8,500 ft). During the inaugurating the 2nd G-20 Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting held in the Darjeeling on April 2, G Kishan Reddy, Union minister for Tourism stated: “India’s rich geographical conditions in different states have big opportunities of encouraging adventure tourism. India possesses 70 per cent of the mighty Himalayas besides taking advantage of more than 7,000 km of coast line, seven major rivers, 70,000 km of sandy desert, 700 sanctuaries, including 16
tiger reserves.”