Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha relaxed its bandh in Darjeeling for 60-hours, and decided to send teams to talk to the West Bengal government as well as the Centre on their demand for a separate state.
However, as the hills in Bengal reverberate with calls for separate statehood, its richest produce reaps its poorest harvest. What is taking a hit in Darjeeling is not just normal life but also the tea production there.
This season sees the best flush picked from Darjeeling and the political turmoil has left the tea industry moaning the loss of the benefits from this quaint brew for the year.
Rajah Banerjee, the owner of one of the best tea brands of Darjeeling, the Makaibari tea is a worried man today. It's the season for plucking the most pristine variety of leaves. And although tea production has been exempted from the purview of the indefinite bandh called by rebel Gorkhas, it's the withdrawal of added industry support that has the 80-odd gardens in the hills on the verge of a crisis.
“Most of the production has not been dispatched. There's a stockpile inside the factory and it's almost crammed up. And if this bandh continues for some more time, there will be huge cancellation of our advanced orders. If it continues indefinitely, certainly there'll be a huge hit for all concerned,” says Owner, Makaibari Tea Estate, Rajah Banerjee.
“Whatever tea is produced at this time gets the highest price. And from that point of view there is a loss incurring every day. It just cannot be made up,” says President, Tea Association of India, Shashank Prasad.
Conservative estimates suggest that consignments worth about Rs 10 crore remain stuck in the hills. Big players export a major bulk of tea they procure from Darjeeling. With exports clearly hit, apprehensions are that in the short run, the downslide may get passed on to the daily wage earners who account for nearly half of the hill population.
Renowned tea estates of Darjeeling like the Makaibari are looking for escape routes during troubled times like these all by themselves. It's the path of sustainable development through community participation, which reserves the potential of writing off the adverse impact of a political turmoil.
However, such efforts are still few and far between. Modest beginnings to rope in all stakeholders to ensure industry's prosperity might just get nipped in the bud by such long-sustaining turmoil.
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