)
The new tea tourism policy of the West Bengal government has failed to thrill tea estate owners who claim that it was neither practical nor much different from the already existing one.
“The new policy has not created any major interest as it is not practical and so we are not very optimistic,” Darjeeling Tea Association chairman S S Bagaria told PTI. “There was a policy during the Left Front government also and people who applied did not receive clearance in 2-3 years,” he said.
Bagaria said unless the government offers time-bound clearances, all efforts would go in vain since the processes involved are not user-friendly.
The Trinamool Congress government has allowed tea tourism in tea estates and gardens of Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, but with riders.
The new tea policy allows tea garden and estate owners to use some of areas which are not under cultivation for alternative use such as tourism to improve revenue.
The government has, however, restricted land meant for tea tourism to five acre both in the plains and hills. The policy also mentions that construction can be carried out in an area not exceeding one-and-a-half acre in the plains, while in hills it will be limited to one acre. The remaining area should be kept open for landscaping and beautification work, it says. The policy does not allow land under actual tea plantation to be used for tea tourism while under no circumstances area under tea plantation can be reduced.
