Alipurduar: A massive surge of Bhutan-bound tourists seen in the New Year has led to prolonged traffic congestion and long queues at the Jaigaon–Phuentsholing border. Thousands of travellers are lining up daily from early morning to obtain permits to enter Phuentsholing, with the situation becoming particularly severe on weekends.
With the onset of the New Year travel season, tourist footfall to Bhutan has increased sharply. As a result, queues at the border now stretch nearly a kilometre from the Bhutan entry gate, forcing visitors—especially those arriving from outside the region—to wait for several hours.
Local resident Krishna Jaiswal attributed the rush to two key factors. “Winter vacations are currently underway in Bhutan and students from higher-altitude regions have descended to Phuentsholing. At the same time, tourists from across India are arriving in large numbers to celebrate the New Year,” he said.
Manoj Lama, a local driver, pointed out that the mandatory verification of identity documents for every visitor is a time-consuming process, which significantly slows down the entry. He suggested separate arrangements for local residents and Bhutanese citizens to ease congestion.
Bhutan resident Tashi Chhiring further noted that the limited deployment of personnel from the Indian security force SSB at the border checkpoints is contributing to delays.
As tourist numbers continue to swell, disorder-like conditions are being witnessed at the border, causing widespread inconvenience.
Addressing the issue, Raj Basu, secretary general of the Indo-Bhutan Friendship Association and chairman of the state government’s eco-tourism committee, said discussions would be held urgently. “We will speak with the Mayor of Phuentsholing to arrange separate counters for tourists and local residents. We will also request the Bhutan Tourism department to introduce an online permit system so tourists can enter by simply showing valid identification,” he said.