May 19: Hill affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya took a U-turn from his earlier stance today and told tourists Darjeeling was safe for them.

“The hills are safe for tourists once again.... I request tourists not to give Darjeeling a miss,” he said.

On April 30, the minister had advised tourists to avoid Darjeeling this season because of the agitation for a new Gorkhaland state launched by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

“I earnestly request tourists not to head for Darjeeling this summer. The situation in the hills is too complicated… it is far from normal,” Bhattacharya had then said.

Today, he acknowledged that there hasn’t been any violence or disruption in the hills since the Morcha’s public meeting in Siliguri on May 7.

Darjeeling squall

A storm struck Darjeeling and Siliguri almost simultaneously this morning, uprooting trees and cutting off power supply in the hills and damaging houses and blocking roads in the plains. The weather office said Nor’westers in Darjeeling were uncommon but not impossible. The power supply was restored around 8pm.