Supporters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha garland tourists with khadas before they leave Darjeeling on Tuesday. The Morcha, which had on Monday asked visitors to leave the hills immediately, arranged 12 buses and 24 small vehicles to ferry more than 500 tourists to Siliguri. The tourists, who were offered tea and biscuits by the Morcha members, left in a convoy around 2. 30pm. Picture by Suman Tamang

Siliguri, June 10: Businessmen in Siliguri will lose Rs 4.5 crore a day because of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills that began today.

The figure does not include losses in the tea industry, which could be hit by a strike following the Morcha’s call for “supreme sacrifice” to achieve Gorkhaland. Today, workers of at least 10 tea gardens located close to the hills did not report for duty.

Biswajit Das, the general secretary of the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, North Bengal (Focin), said business in Siliguri depended largely on the hills.

“The average daily transaction in Siliguri is Rs 6 crore of which 75 per cent is with the hills. Stoppage of economic activities means a loss of Rs 4.5 crore a day for the businessmen, while the state government and the Centre miss out on their respective share of taxes,” Das said.

“The economy in Siliguri and the hills is largely dependent on tourism and trading of goods ranging from grocery and vegetables to clothes and building material. Both these sectors will be affected by the bandh,” the Focin general secretary added.

The Morcha has decided not to allow any tourists or supplies to come in from the plains during the shutdown.

The tea industry, too, has been hit by the bandh.

“At least 10 tea gardens in the Terai, including Marianbarie, Ashapur, Panighata and Lohargarh, were closed today because the workers were absent,” said Mohini Das, the secretary of the Terai Indian Planters’ Association. “In some areas, bandh supporters stopped vehicles carrying tealeaves to factories and fuel to the gardens. With the arrival of monsoon, we were expecting a rise in production, but the strike has left us worried.”

He said every day, 8,000-10,000 kg of tealeaves are plucked in an estate. “From these, 2,000-2,500kg of CTC tea is produced. Considering the current auction prices, a garden will lose Rs 2 lakh a day if it remains closed.”

In the Dooars, 10-15 gardens remained closed today. “Most of the workers in gardens like Mechpara, Central Dooars and Bhatpara did not turn up,” said Prabir Bhattacharya, the secretary of the Dooars Branch of the Indian Tea Association.

Trade union leaders said the Morcha had managed to win over the workers. “The Morcha asked our supporters to stay away from work and they did,” Darjeeling district president of the Intuc Aloke Chakraborty said. The Morcha wants the Terai and the Dooars to be included in the new state it is demanding.