Darjeeling, Feb. 22: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to relax its indefinite shutdown in the hills for four hours tomorrow, giving residents a 10am-2pm window to stock up on food, finish pending work at banks and post offices, and travel to any place they want to.

“Everything will remain open for four hours tomorrow. Vehicles, too, will be allowed to move across the three hill subdivisions between 10am and 2pm. Although we have been forced to call this bandh, we do not want to harass people,” said Morcha president Bimal Gurung.

The Morcha has enforced the shutdown to demand the removal of GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh from the post of the caretaker administrator of the DGHC and the immediate scrapping of the proposed Sixth Schedule status for the Darjeeling hills.

“We are happy that markets and shops will open after three days tomorrow,” said a resident here. “But I don’t think banks and post offices will function normally even for these four hours, because they will not be able to make arrangements at such short notice.”

The Morcha had earlier announced that post offices and nationalised banks would be allowed to open only on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The residents are also hoping to make the most of the four-hour respite to travel to Siliguri and other places. While police have been escorting tourist vehicles to Siliguri, residents have had no such luck, even those with urgent work in the plains.

“We can provide security to residents but they have to bring their own vehicles. It is getting increasingly difficult to find vehicles as we cannot force drivers to take a risk in the current situation,” said a police official.

This morning, quite a few people were seen at the Morcha office here who had come to meet Gurung to seek his “written permission” allowing them to take vehicles to go down to Siliguri.

“My daughter is stranded in Siliguri and that is why I went to the Morcha office to ask for a permission letter. Since the strike is being relaxed for four hours tomorrow, I will now be able to bring her home,” said a businessman who did not want to be named.

In fact, Morcha leaders had been in discussion since early morning about the need to allow petrol pumps to remain open for all emergency vehicles, including cars that ferry students and tankers that supply milk and water to the town.