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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