Darjeeling winter festival 2015 begins with ‘Hamro ghar’ scheme

9:29 AM

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gta news

The 7-day winter festival at Chowrasta in Darjeeling began today with the distribution of cheques amounting to Rs 80,000 to 100 families of the below poverty line (BPL) as part of the first phase of the ‘hamro ghar’ scheme initiated by Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) today at the inaugural programme of winter festival 2015.

Darjeeling winter festival 2015 begins 

‘Hamro ghar’ scheme had been launched for the BPL people under GTA areas by the GTA, where 20 houses will be build in each constituency with a budget of rupees 1,60,000 for each house.

The 7-day festival is organised by the tourism department of GTA in collaboration with the state government. “Tea and tourism is Darjeeling’s identity, development in tea and tourism means all sectors of life in Darjeeling will benefit from it. This winter festival is also a means of tourist attraction” said the finance secretary of GTA, Mr D.B.Lepcha.

The winter festival was inaugurated by the GTA chief and Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM) supremo, Mr Bimal Gurung, by lighting a lamp which was followed by a welcome speech by Mr D.B.Lepcha. The programme then moved forward with ‘maruni nritya’, ‘pachhimi Chutka nritya’ and Nepali folk song by the Artists of Teesta Rangit Sanskritik Toli of Darjeeling.

The event also witnessed speeches by the MLA Darjeeling, Mr T K Dewan and Mr Cheyong Pulzar, the Excecutive Director of P&RD Department of ‘hamro ghar’ scheme. The ‘dhaan naach’ by an artist of Teesta Rangit Sanskritik Toli marked the last programme of the inaugural ceremony of the winter festival which was further followed by a speech from Mr Bimal Gurung.

The winter festival of 2015 will witness a host of star attractions and band performances like Bipul Chettri, Adreen Pradhan and Nima Rumba and bands like Mantra, Pralaya, Parichaya, US band, Wafwot band, Carnival and winners of International Hornbill Festival, Adams Apple and Nightmares “We want our local people coming up with their talents. That is why we have invited local stars to perform during this festival,” said Mr Gurung.

Adreen Pradhan who is a vocalist, composer and songwriter,
performed at Chowrastha in the evening amidst much cheers. When Mr Pradhan was asked about how he is feeling about performing at the festival, he said, “I am a bit excited.”

Source: Sns

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Darjeeling set for 111km mountain cycle rally to Sandakphu

10:13 AM

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Tourism

Bengal's highest point, Sandakphu, at an altitude of 11,929 feet, is set to be conquered by a group of cyclists.

Participants of the mountain bike rally at Chowrasta in Darjeeling on Sunday (picture by Suman Tamang)

Ten youths from Darjeeling and Bangalore today set out on a 111km mountain cycle rally to a region where even vehicles without a four-wheel drive refuse to travel. Sandakphu is 53km from here.

The region is inhospitable at this time of the year because of the cold unpredictable weather and the slippery cobbled roads. However, this has not deterred 13-year-old Nawang Tenzing Sherpa, the youngest in the group, from participating in the event.

"I have never been to Sandakphu before but this time I am cycling to the place and the thought itself is providing me much excitement," said the Class VII student of St Joseph's School (North Point).

The rally has 10 participants, including a youth from Bangalore, who has never cycled in a hilly area. "I have just heard of the names of these places (Sandakphu-Phalut). I have never cycled in the hills and this is going to be a new experience for me," said Dinesh Kumar, a resident of Bangalore.

The rally, which was flagged off from Chowrasta by Prakash Gurung, GTA Sabha elected member from Rimbick and Dawa Lepcha, executive GTA Sabha member in-charge of the tourism department, is being organised by Alpine Wheels, a Darjeeling based organisation of mountain bikers. The cyclists will stay overnight at Tumling today.

Tumling, is situated at an altitude of 9,600 feet and is 34km from Darjeeling.

"This is a six day event. After Tumling, we will halt at Sandakphu, Phalut, Gorkhey and Samendan before ending at Rimbick," said Tenzing Chomba Sherpa of Alipine Wheels. Even though the use of cycles in day to day life is non-existent in the hills given the steep gradient of the region, biking trails is slowly catching up in the hills as an adventure sport.

A few organisations have started mountain bike trails across the hills of late.

"We are trying to promote mountain bikes as an adventure sport in the hills and also make a component of eco-tourism. After all, this is an eco-friendly sport and also helps people keep fit," said Tenzing Chomba.

Migma Sherpa, another participant said: "The hills are a good place for mountain biking."

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had cancelled her October 14 trip to Sandakphu-Phalut. Nabanna sources had said that several senior bureaucrats had requested Mamata not to go on the trip, a part of which was planned as a trek, citing security, difficulty of terrain, the near lack of telecommunication network and the chilly weather as reasons.

Source: Vivek Chhetri for Telegraph

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Ponies banned at Chowrasta by Darjeeling municipality

7:49 AM

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Tourism

Any tourist’s Darjeeling visit will now be complete, even if s/he does not have a photograph taken on a pony at Chowrasta, the heart of Darjeeling and a popular tourist hangout in town.

Ponies banned at Chowrasta by Darjeeling municipality

The once famous ponies of Darjeeling are no longer seen idly lingering around the promenade, thanks to the Darjeeling municipality that has recently issued orders to pony owners to stop their business there.

Municipality Chairman Amar Singh Rai said such a decision was taken as the ponies had been “spoiling the ambiance of Chowrastha.”

According to him, he has received several complaints from people that said that the ponies had been littering the place.

“The ponies urinated and excreted anywhere in the middle of Chowrasta, and the area had started to stink,” Mr Rai said.
Samsher Tamang, the president of the Chowrasta Pony Association, however, lamented that the municipality order means big losses for them and that it will hit their livelihood.

“There are 22 ponies in the stables at Chowrastha, and pony rides have been a delight for the tourists since 1933,” he said.

Further, the Darjeeling Police has decided to be stricter when it comes to stop lighting up at Chowrastha. It may be mentioned that the place is already a ‘no-smoking zone,’ but people still smoke there, not giving two hoots to the ban in place.

“With government approval, we might raise the fine for smoking there from Rs 200 to Rs 500 in the coming days,” said S Sarkar, the Additional Superintendent of Police, Darjeeling.

Mr Rai, meanwhile, said that the Municipality is also working on plans to make the promenade a “no-vending zone.”

Source: SNS

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Shalika Gurung Set to Create History as the Only Female Driver in 1st Rally De Orange

10:17 AM

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sports news

Shakila Gurung has been driving for the past 25 years but this is her first stint as a driver in a car rally and she is really excited about it.

Shalika Gurung

Shakila from Mirik is the only female driver of Rally De Orange, the first car rally organised by GTA Sabha in association with The Telegraph.

“I am looking forward to a lot of a fun and adventure over the next two days,” said the 42-year-old lady, who would be assisted by her husband Navin as the navigator.

The two-day car rally will be flagged off from Gorkha Rangamancha Bhavan here tomorrow. Ramkrishna Race Performance Management is providing the technical support, while the event is being managed by Wind Oz, an organisation which promotes adventure tourism.

At the inaugural session held today, bands from Kumidini Homes, Kalimpong and Municipal Boys’ High School, Darjeeling, escorted the 22 participating teams in their cars from Gorkha Rangamancha Bhavan to Chowrasta.

Twenty-two teams will be participating in the car rally. While 15 are from the Darjeeling hills, seven teams are from different parts of the country.

Leg I of the rally will start from Gorkha Rangamancha Bhavan at 8am tomorrow and will proceed towards Ghoom. It will finish at Murti in Dooars at 4pm, covering a distance of 175km. On November 26, Leg II will be flagged off from Murti at 7am and terminate at Sittong, covering a distance of 130km. The rally will be held in the Time-Speed-Distance format where the participants are supposed to cover a particular distance within a stipulated time at a given speed.

“The car rally is an effort of the GTA to make adventure tourism popular in the hills,” said Sonam Bhutia, the executive director of GTA’s tourism department.

The winning team will receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and those in the second third and fourth positions will receive Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000,

Souece: Telegraph

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Darjeeling Cultural and Tourism Festival 2014 concluded

11:35 AM

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Tourism

The Darjeeling Cultural and Tourism Festival came to a close on Friday with fanfare after enthralling the tourists and the locals for a month.

Darjeeling Cultural and Tourism Festival 2014 concluded

Cultural events by local artists were performed in the last day with the “Carnival” group exciting the audience with their songs.

Tourists flocked to Chowrastha- the venue for the festival - to get a last chance to see the different culture and traditions of the Hills which was displayed by the participants.

The festival started on October in Darjeeling and was also organized in Kurseong and Kalimpong sub-divisions and in Mirik, in the foothills over the month.

The organizers gave a grand farewell to the month long festival by a fire work display in the evening much to the delight and awe of the crowd. The organizers also thanked the people for their support in making the event a success while assuring make the programme more glitzy next year.

Source:EOIC

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Darjeeling municipality decided to make Chowrasta “no-vending zone”

11:33 AM

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Darjeeling Municipality

This action on the part of the Darjeeling municipality might have been the triggered by I AM DARJEELING. article which went viral on Social media.

The Darjeeling municipality has decided to make the town’s main promenade Chowrasta a “no-vending zone” on the request of morning walkers.

Stalls along Mall road in Darjeeling. Picture by Suman Tamang

By “no-vending zone”, the municipality means other than 12 temporary hawkers’ stalls on Mall Road, no other shop would be allowed to be set up on Chowrasta.

Most of the shops are concentrated on Mall Road, which the municipality plans to remove. Nehru Road, a path to Chowrasta, would also be part of the no-vending zone, as will be the road leading to Hotel Alice Villa.

Civic chairman Amar Singh Rai said no vendors, other than the 12 allotted temporary space on Mall Road would be allowed in the area.

The municipality is yet to pass a resolution on this.

Chowrasta has seen a steady rise of hawkers in the past year. Around 40 vendors have stalls on the stretch leading to the Mahakal temple on Mall Road.

This morning, the Darjeeling Environment Conservation Awareness Programme, popularly known as the Morning Health Club, submitted a memorandum to Rai.

Many senior citizens are members of the club.

Tshering Dorjee, the president of the Darjeeling Environment Conservation Awareness Programme, wrote: “Mall and Chowrasta has always been a favourite spot both for tourists as well as locals, where people of all ages come to stroll and relax. But… hawkers stalls along the stretch leading towards Chowrasta makes (the roads) very narrow and inconvenient for commuters.”

Last year, vendors had been removed from Nehru Road and given space along the road that leads to Hotel Alice Villa.

Twelve hawkers could not be accommodated and were allotted space along the Mall Road.

This afternoon, Rai said: “We have heard the grievances of the Morning Health Club. It is true that only 12 hawkers who could not be accommodated along the road that leads to Hotel Alice Villa were allowed to put up stalls on the Mall Road.”

He said the municipality had “started conducting a survey from today”.

He added: “We will not allow any other vendor (except the 12) to put up stalls in the area. The municipality will soon adopt a resolution in the board meeting making Chowrasta a no-vending zone.”

Earlier this year, the Morning Health Club had opposed the construction of a hawkers’ market at Chowrasta.

The members have also opposed illegal construction in the Mall area. “We are aware that the municipality had allowed only 12 hawkers to put up stalls in the area purely on temporary basis. But over the months, the number of hawkers has multiplied at an alarming rate. We request the municipality to declare the area as a no-construction, no vending zone as well as free from advertising hoarding and flexes,” Dorjee said.

Alos read : Darjeeling municipality started dismantling buildings taller than the maximum 
and I AM DARJEELING.

Source: Vivek Chhetri for Telegraph

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