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Kalimpong, Nov. 27: The business community here fears that the recent spate of bandhs and the possibility of further unrest could derail the efforts of a decade-and-a-half to put the hill economy back on track.

Apart from tea, tourism and schools are the backbone of the region’s economy. The recent shutdowns called by both the GNLF and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha have had an immediate impact on tourism, while the education sector could suffer in the long-term.

Trade, too, suffered heavy losses in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong. “In Darjeeling, transactions worth Rs 1 crore (roughly) take place everyday, so you can well imagine the combined loss in the three towns,” said B.M. Garg, the president of the Darjeeling Chamber of Commerce.

Such is the mood among businessmen in the hills that seven of them from Darjeeling have decided to relocate elsewhere. “Mamamchand Agarwal (a leading Darjeeling businessman) met us as part of a citizen’s delegation today and said he would be the eighth one to leave if the politics of bandh continues,” said A.R. Dewan, the secretary of the Darjeeling branch committee of the GNLF.

“For the tourism industry, bandh is a calamity in the same way floods are for farmers. Why resort to bandhs when there are other means of protest?” asked Suresh Periwal, the president of the north Bengal and Sikkim chapter of the Indian Association of Tour Operators.

Periwal said the tourism industry suffered losses of about Rs 50 lakh during the five-day GNLF strike. “And next season, tourist arrival is likely to fall by at least 20 per cent,” he said. “Just when things were beginning to look up, the perception of north Bengal being a strike-prone area gets reinforced. This is not good at all.”

Hotels in Kalimpong were near-empty during the past few days. “All December bookings have been cancelled as well and we now have to return the advanced amounts,” said Sanjogita Subba, president, Hotel and Restaurant Owners’ Association of Kalimpong.

Though schools were not greatly affected by the shutdown, the fact that the agitation coincided with the annual exams in most institutions will weigh heavily on the minds of parents. “They will think twice before sending their children back to schools here,” said the principal of a local school who did not want to be named. “Parents of prospective students, too, may be scared away.”

Educational institutions, including boarding schools catering to students from across the country, provide the main impetus to the local economies of Kalimpong and Kurseong, which do not receive as many tourists as Darjeeling.