Darjeeling, Oct. 19: Tourists visiting the Darjeeling hills will soon have to pay a nominal “tourist tax” as the cash-strapped local administration tests the waters to generate revenue.
The district administration has decided to levy a tourist tax of Rs 3 per person. A tourist car will have to pay Rs 20 at the time of entry and a bus ferrying tourists will have to pay Rs 50. Such levies do not exist now in the hills. The administration is hoping to implement the new measures by November 15.
Although the fee of Rs 3 per tourist seems low, civic officials said such was the gravity of the funds crunch that any additional cash would come in handy. “As around 3 lakh tourists come to the hills every year, we expect to generate around Rs 14 lakh through the taxes on tourists and their vehicles,” said Tamal Das, the chairman of the board of administrators of the Darjeeling municipality.
“The Darjeeling municipality has run up an overdraft of Rs 70 lakh in the past two months while clearing the salaries of its employees. Under such circumstances, any source of income is a welcome relief,” Das added.
Sources said the idea was to get the tourist tax accepted in principle. “Later, we might think of raising it to generate more revenue,” an official said.
Apart from the tourist tax, the Darjeeling municipality has also decided to introduce parking fees in various zones for the first time in the hills.
“The tourist tax, along with the parking fees, should help the Darjeeling municipality immensely,” said Das.
The tourists will “most probably” have to pay the tax near the Ghoom railway station. “We are looking at setting up a gate near the Ghoom railway station as that is the entry point to Darjeeling,” said Das.
The municipality officials will focus on taxis that are reserved by tourists while coming up to Darjeeling from places like Siliguri and Gangtok. “Since most of the tourists prefer to hire taxis rather than share space with local passengers in share taxis, collecting the tourist tax will not be a problem. Moreover, we do not think that the tourist will have much problem in paying Rs 3 per individual,” Das said.
Saumitra Mohan, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, said the modalities were being worked out to introduce parking fees in all the three hill towns of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong. “We have scheduled a meeting with transport syndicates on October 27. Traffic management is one thing we are seriously trying to address across the hills and we have already held meeting with the sub-divisional officers of Kalimpong and Kurseong,” Mohan said.
The Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council has floated a tender to build a multi-layer parking space along Lebong Cart Road. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 19 crore.
The district administration is looking at door-to-door collection of garbage, which is currently dumped in vats and is cleared by the municipality vehicles.
“We are trying to involve local samajs (neighbourhood bodies) so that garbage can be collected daily. We are looking at charging Rs 2 per day from every household so that garbage can be segregated into bio-degradable and non degradable bags for efficient disposal,” Mohan said.
The officials are also working on streamlining hawkers along Nehru road, which leads to the Mall. “We do not want shopkeepers to keep their wares on footpaths. There should be more walking space for pedestrians,” Mohan added.
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111020/jsp/nation/story_14646157.jsp
The district administration has decided to levy a tourist tax of Rs 3 per person. A tourist car will have to pay Rs 20 at the time of entry and a bus ferrying tourists will have to pay Rs 50. Such levies do not exist now in the hills. The administration is hoping to implement the new measures by November 15.
Although the fee of Rs 3 per tourist seems low, civic officials said such was the gravity of the funds crunch that any additional cash would come in handy. “As around 3 lakh tourists come to the hills every year, we expect to generate around Rs 14 lakh through the taxes on tourists and their vehicles,” said Tamal Das, the chairman of the board of administrators of the Darjeeling municipality.
“The Darjeeling municipality has run up an overdraft of Rs 70 lakh in the past two months while clearing the salaries of its employees. Under such circumstances, any source of income is a welcome relief,” Das added.
Sources said the idea was to get the tourist tax accepted in principle. “Later, we might think of raising it to generate more revenue,” an official said.
Apart from the tourist tax, the Darjeeling municipality has also decided to introduce parking fees in various zones for the first time in the hills.
“The tourist tax, along with the parking fees, should help the Darjeeling municipality immensely,” said Das.
The tourists will “most probably” have to pay the tax near the Ghoom railway station. “We are looking at setting up a gate near the Ghoom railway station as that is the entry point to Darjeeling,” said Das.
The municipality officials will focus on taxis that are reserved by tourists while coming up to Darjeeling from places like Siliguri and Gangtok. “Since most of the tourists prefer to hire taxis rather than share space with local passengers in share taxis, collecting the tourist tax will not be a problem. Moreover, we do not think that the tourist will have much problem in paying Rs 3 per individual,” Das said.
Saumitra Mohan, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, said the modalities were being worked out to introduce parking fees in all the three hill towns of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong. “We have scheduled a meeting with transport syndicates on October 27. Traffic management is one thing we are seriously trying to address across the hills and we have already held meeting with the sub-divisional officers of Kalimpong and Kurseong,” Mohan said.
The Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council has floated a tender to build a multi-layer parking space along Lebong Cart Road. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 19 crore.
The district administration is looking at door-to-door collection of garbage, which is currently dumped in vats and is cleared by the municipality vehicles.
“We are trying to involve local samajs (neighbourhood bodies) so that garbage can be collected daily. We are looking at charging Rs 2 per day from every household so that garbage can be segregated into bio-degradable and non degradable bags for efficient disposal,” Mohan said.
The officials are also working on streamlining hawkers along Nehru road, which leads to the Mall. “We do not want shopkeepers to keep their wares on footpaths. There should be more walking space for pedestrians,” Mohan added.
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111020/jsp/nation/story_14646157.jsp