The indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) which entered the ninth day today in the hills has sparked fears of the Darjeeling tea industry facing a complete shutdown.
The strike would affect the entire post-second flush which takes place during August amounting to 7.35 lakh kg.
“The bandh is going on and it is becoming extremely difficult for us for sustaining operations,” chairman of Darjeeling Tea Association, S.S. Bagaria, told PTI here.
He said that although the tea industry has been exempted from the shutdown, movement of tea and inputs from and to the factory has stopped completely.
Bagaria said that the 87-odd gardens located in the hills are unable to transport the tea from the factory and the produce has to be stored on the factory premises.
“There is a capacity limit of the factories to store their produce. If this continues for another three to four days, plucking will have to be completely stopped,” Bagaria said.
The bandh has also stopped entry of inputs like coal and fuel to the factories as no trucks were able to run in the hills, Bagaria said.
“Since the entire crop is exported, it will create uncertainty among exporters and importing countries,” he said.
Chairman of Andrew Yule & Company, Kallol Datta, added that supply of ration to the workers is also getting hit.
“Owing to the strike, no ration can be transported to the gardens and factories,” Datta said.
“We will have to stop all activity if the strike continues for a few more days,” he said.
The Indian Tea Association, the apex body of tea planters, has called an emergency meeting on Tuesday to evaluate the situation in the hills.
“We have called for a meeting of the members having interests in Darjeeling for a review of the situation,” ITA Secretary-General Manojit Dasgupta said.
He said that ITA would talk to local transport operators to ascertain whether they were willing to transport tea with police protection.