Gurkhas disrupt Darjeeling tea industry in West Bengal
India's ethnic Gurkhas, fighting for separate state in West Bengal, shut economy down, disrupting tea industry at peak production time
Its fragrant, delicately flavoured leaves have enthralled tea drinkers for generations, but stocks of Darjeeling are being threatened as India's ethnic Gurkhas fight for a separate state in the hills of West Bengal.
The demand for "Gurkhaland", a separate political and administrative unit to be carved out from the Gurkha populated districts of West Bengal state, has enforced a total shutdown in the Darjeeling hills since August 3.
For the past 10 days, Gurkha men, women and children have taken over the winding roads and hill habitations in the 3,150 square kilometre region, stopping traffic, closing shops and restaurants, and preventing all economic activity.
Even though the tea industry has supposedly been "exempted" from the shutdown, the knock-on effect could mean losing two months of production.
The Indian Tea Association was holding emergency talks in Calcutta yesterday as companies deal with the crisis.
"It's an extremely worrisome situation," said Manojit Dasgupta, the association's secretary-general. "All the 74 operational tea estates in the region are facing insurmountable problems. At risk is the entire July and August production of Darjeeling tea, amounting to nearly [3,000 tonnes]. This is around a third of the annual production."
