Preparations gather steam in Hills to welcome tourists

Darjeeling: The Queen of the Hills is all set to welcome back the tourists. Braving the pandemic, tourists have started trickling back with the festive season round the corner.

Incidentally, the Hill town was closed to tourists since mid-March owing to the pandemic. Finally, with the Unlock process, Darjeeling too opened her gates to tourists on September 8.

"Tourism is the economic mainstay of this region. The industry has taken a major blow. The neo-tourism is a balance between life and livelihood and we will be promoting safe tourism maintaining all the Government health guidelines. Already enquiries have started coming in from different parts of the country and state including Delhi, Mumbai, South India and Kolkata. We are hopeful that the tourism industry will bounce back steadily," stated Pradeep Lama, Secretary, Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents (DATA.) Every year 8 lakh domestic and 40,000 foreign tourists visit the Darjeeling Hills.

The police have also started getting the town ready to usher in the tourists. Dividers are being put up on busy thoroughfares. "Every Thursday we will embark on a town cleaning drive" stated Dorjee Sherpa, OC, Traffic, Darjeeling.

Incidentally, the chairs at the Mall, the most prominent public promenade of the town had been removed earlier to prevent crowds. The chairs are back again along with the tourists.

Two of the most famous tourist spots of town, the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (Pnhzp,) and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute are all set to open up for visitors from Friday. Both were closed since March 17.

"We have adopted all necessary measures as per health safety protocols. The measures include installing automatic sanitizer machines, Body temperature check; Foot bath with disinfectants at the entry point; No one will be allowed inside without masks; Online ticket with QR code scanning facility will also be available. To ensure social distancing, markings have been done on the zoo road, pathway and benches. The staff have been provided with face shields, masks and gloves," stated Dharamdeo Rai, Director, Pnhzp.

The HMI has also adopted all these measures. "Tourists are advised not to enter NO ENTRY AREAs as these

are residential areas. Gloves will be provided to those tourists who wish to enjoy the Tree

Top Adventure Park," added Group Captain Jai Kishan, Principal, HMI.