June 12: Most traders and transporters in Siliguri did not dare to send supplies or vehicles to the hills today as supporters of the bandh patrolled the streets.

Last night, activists of Jana Jagaran, which is opposed to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s statehood demand, had ransacked five trucks loaded with goods bound for Darjeeling at Jhankar More.

The long line of trucks stayed parked near the Champasari market as well as the wholesale market at Khalapara all through the day.

But 15 trucks with foodgrain made it to Darjeeling, having started from Siliguri early this morning.

Siliguri MLA Asok Bhattacharya said if needed, trucks would be sent to the hills with police escort.

Up in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, shops quickly ran out of goods today as people stocked up in panic before the Morcha’s indefi- nite shutdown in the hills resumes.

“We had stocks to last 10 days under normal circumstances, but everything was sold today,” said M.C. Thirani of Thirani Enterprise, one the largest wholesale traders in Darjeeling.

But B.M. Garg, the president of the Darjeeling Chamber of Commerce, sounded optimistic and said people should not panic because more trucks were on their way up. “The situation is not bad at the moment,” he said.

Hill traders, however, have begun mulling alternative arrangements. “We will have to explore other alternatives and one of them is bringing supplies from Sikkim via Jorethang,” a trader in Darjeeling said.

Residents are also wondering about buying food items from Pashupati Fatak, 30km from Darjeeling town, on the border with Nepal. “The traders might not be able to bring in the trucks, but we can definitely go and shop there,” said Ratan Gurung, a resident.

In Kalimpong, too, traders were worried about depleting stocks.

“Stores are running out of items like sugar, rice and wheat. If they can replenish tomorrow, things would look up,” said Ajay Agarwal, the secretary of the Kalimpong Chamber of Commerce.

The subdivisional officer of Kalimpong, P.T. Sherpa, said: “The situation is still manageable and we will do everything to avoid a food crisis.”