By IANS,
Gangtok : Snaking queues were seen at petrol stations here Tuesday as Sikkim got cut off from the outside world due to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) sponsored indefinite shutdown in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district and stood to lose an estimated Rs.87.3 million daily.
The financial loss estimate — including transportation, bookings of hotels and travel operators, toll taxes, businesses, offices, banks — was made by the Sikkim government’s Directorate of Survey last year after the GJM activists blockaded National Highway 31 A, the state’s road link to the outside world, for almost a week.
The latest round of indefinite strike called by the GJM, which began at noon Monday, is already taking a toll on everyday life in this mountain state as
all major towns saw a rush of traffic at petrol stations Tuesday morning with people waiting for hours to fill their tanks to the brim.
With the GJM calling three indefinite shutdowns since last year in support of its demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland in the northern part of West Bengal, loss to the economy is a major problem in Sikkim due to the closure of the highway and the disruption of everyday life of the locals
here.
For Sikkim, Siliguri is the main commercial hub, including bringing in of all essential commodities. With many of the trucks still on the highway when
the shutdown began, emergency rations at the last moment did not reach the godowns.
However, the administration claimed there was no shortage of essential commodities with the state-owned godowns having stocked essential foodgrains
that can last for a month.
“We won’t allow black marketing. Strict checking is being done. We have adequate stocks now,” Collector of East district, which borders Darjeeling, D. Anandan told IANS.
Petroleum products in the state have also got a limited storage capacity and at present stocks that can last upto a week are kept reserved in petrol
stations while another bulk storage of petroleum products like LPG and kerosene oil have also been stocked at the Indian Oil Corporation depot at
Rangpo in East Sikkim.
However, Anandan said as LPG was outside the purview of the protests, trucks carrying it will ply.
He said following negotiations with the Sikkim government, the GJM formed a cell which has decided not to stop people people from the state once they
produce their rail tickets or give evidences of hospital emergencies.
The district administration has also announced that it might consider rationing of petrol and diesel if the shutdown was not called off within the next two-three days.
Many students going outside the state have also been inconvenienced following closure of the highway, and the district administration held meetings with the GJM to allow them to proceed unhindered to schools in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong.
Some agencies in the state have also filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court on such forced closure of the highway. The state government has also asked for an alternative highway to Sikkim to avoid such problems.