Siliguri,
Aug 22: The government has asked garden owners to first
surrender the surplus land and acquire fresh lease for tourism projects.
The new proposal would carry additional costs of several lakhs of
rupees which the garden owners had not budgeted for previously.
This is a setback for the ambitious project of resurging industrial
growth in the three North-Bengal districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri
and North Dinajpur. The tourism-minister, Dinesh Dakua, announced the new measures
at a meeting with tea garden representative today.
In Darjeeling, Dooars and the Terai, 90 percent of the land is
being leased out to private companies by the government for a period
of 30-50 year periods. But the minister said that the lease was
meant for tea-related activities, including setting up of factories,
plantations, warehouses and bungalows - and if the owners
wanted to use the land for tourism they could do so by acquiring
a fresh lease from the government.
The government’s new move has taken all the representatives
of the industry by surprise. A garden owner said, `I was surprised,
they have mentioned nothing about the new measure`.
The process of acquiring new lease nor details about charges have
been fixed. `These things would be worked out at the meeting
in Kolkata`, said Dakua. The garden representatives have however
decided to adopt the policy of wait and watch. |
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