ICSE schools in Darjeeling have requested the administration to declare zones around schools and colleges as no-horn areas and restrict heavy vehicles in the town during rush hours.

Some of the best-known ICSE schools in town — Mount Hermon, Loreto Convent, Vidya Vikash Academy, Saraswati Vidya Daan Academy, Sunrise Academy, Gyanoday Niketan, Ruhiyyih School and St Joseph’s School (North Point) — are backing the move.

“Due to the rise in traffic, students are being distracted not just in classrooms but also on playing fields. This is why schools have come together to request the authorities to declare zones around schools and colleges as no-horn areas,” said Fr Stanley Varghese, the rector of North Point.

According to The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, an area comprising not less than 100 metres around hospitals, educational institutions and courts may be declared as a silence area/zone by the state government.

These Darjeeling schools have also requested the administration to restrict heavy vehicles like trucks during rush hours, especially during the tourist season. The educationists submitted a memo to the Darjeeling district administration to this effect on Thursday.

“During the tourist season, many students arrive late to school because of traffic snarls. They face the same ordeal while returning home, with parents making frantic calls to schools about their wards,” said Fr Stanley.

The number of vehicles in general shoots up during the tourist season in comparison with the off-season.

A survey by Darjeeling traffic police in 2020 found that during the tourist season, an average of 4,100 people visit the Batasia Loop every day and 150 vehicles are parked on the site at any particular time.

In contrast, during the off-season, an average of 450 people visit Batasia every day and 30 vehicles are parked there at any time.

In the past few years, the police department has made a number of changes to ease traffic snarls in Darjeeling. During the current tourist season, the number of police personnel posted to monitor traffic across town is more than in previous years, said sources.

The stretch between the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the NH110 at Jorebunglow had also been levelled to provide more space for vehicles to ply on.

“We will definitely look into the issues raised by the schools,” said a senior district official who added that that matter would be apprised to the Darjeeling district magistrate.

The official also added that they had recently done away with parking vehicles in front of Mount Hermon.

“Traffic management in Darjeeling is not an easy task as the town lacks parking space. Even commercial properties in town do not make provisions for parking,” the official added.

Experts suggest tourist towns like Darjeeling and Gangtok, which face massive traffic snarls, adopt a non-motorised transport system in the long-term. “Non-motorised transport is the way out for mountain towns like Gangtok and Darjeeling as our terrain has reached a saturation point in vehicle density,” said an architect.