Residents crowd at a grocery store in Kalimpong during a two-hour breather in the 24-hour strike in the hills on Monday (below), while members of the Morcha-affiliated drivers’ association burn the effigy of Bengal hill affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya. Pictures by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

June 9: They had come for a quiet holiday in the lap of the Himalayas, but ended up leaving the hill stations packed like sardines inside buses and trucks following the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s abrupt decision to call an indefinite shutdown from tomorrow.

Tourists in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and even Gangtok had to cut short their trips and go back to the plains today. Some had to travel on the roof of buses packed far beyond their capacity.

The day, however, had begun on a positive note, as the Morcha’s 24-hour strike had been silent about tourists. Although most tourist spots, like the botanical garden, were closed, the toy train plied as usual and there was no prohibition on vehicles.

All that changed after a Morcha announcement at Darjeeling’s Chowkbazar around 1pm.

“We have no enmity with tourists, but since we are starting a greater agitation, we request all of you to leave as early as possible,” Ishamani Pakhrin, the office-secretary of the Morcha, announced in Bengali at the busy crossing.

The announcement led to chaos. “I do not know what to do because I was planning to leave Darjeeling on June 11,” said Aloke Mukherjee from Calcutta as he frantically searched for a vehicle to take him to Siliguri.

Mukherjee, however, was lucky as he managed to book a vehicle soon. Jogesh Kumar from Chattishgarh had to roam around Darjeeling town for more than an hour and finally paid Rs 3,000 — more than double the usual fair — for a car to Siliguri.

“This is not fair to tourists who come from far away places. They should have at least given us one full day to leave,” Kumar said.

A scramble for vehicles ensued at Darjeeling Motor Stand in the evening. To make matters worse, most of the taxis from Siliguri had decided not to come to the hills today because of the possibility of trouble.

The president of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hotel Owners’ Association, Sangay Tshering, said they were trying their best to get taxis for the tourists. “There must be around 10,000 tourists across the hills right now,” he said.

In the evening, a number of buses took the tourists down to the plains but even they seemed inadequate with people forced to perch on the roof. Around 6pm, five trucks were seen moving towards Siliguri loaded with tourists. “We are being charged Rs 120 per head,” a tourist shouted back when asked about the rate.

In Kalimpong, hotels were busy arranging transport to ferry their guests to Siliguri. By evening, most tourists had left town, while the remaining few will be leaving early tomorrow morning. Vehicles will be allowed to ply till 6am.

School authorities in Kalimpong worried as most of the institutions are scheduled to reopen after the summer holidays on June 12, with outstation students expected to return in the next couple of days. “I really don’t know what to do because our students are scheduled to arrive tomorrow,” said a school official on condition of anonymity.

Sikkim, too, has asked tourists to leave the state by this evening or early tomorrow because the Morcha will close down NH31A. “Tourists have been requested to cut short their stay for their own convenience,” said the district collector of East Sikkim, Vishal Chauhan.

In Calcutta, Bengal home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti expressed concern over the Morcha’s diktat. “The Morcha is doing nobody any good. This is the first time they have told tourists to get out of the hills. We have to do everything to ensure their safe transit,” Chakrabarti said at the Writers’ Buildings today.

“I shudder to think that the tourists include many women and children,” he added.