Effect of Long Lockdown in Tourism

Good evening friends. Hope all of you are well and are waiting for a new story. Today, I am here not with a new travel destination, but I am here to share my experiences, which I recently faced and observed in a well known tourist destination of West Bengal. So, today's story may be disappointing for many of you, but as a blogger it is my duty to share different types of experiences with you, that may be good or not so good. So, today I am sharing an experience which many of you will not appreciate.

            Actually, I had a plan to experience the reality of the effects of the long lockdown and unlock phase which had create a huge loss in the country's economy and obviously share my observations with you. And tourism, which is one of the basic pillar of the economy of our country is a sector which is highly affected in the long Lockdown phase. Now unlocking has somewhat changed the stagnant situations in large cities but what about villages and smaller cities, specially those areas which are highly dependent on tourism. To observe the practical condition, last week I got an opportunity to visit Bolpur. Today, I will share my experience in that short tour. Hope, I can give you a more or less clear picture of what the tourism industry and people dependent on tourism facing.

           Last week entire South Bengal and Jharkhand, including the city of Kolkata saw some heavy rains and the day before our journey it had rained nearly about 100mm. So, the next day, before leaving home, I was in a confusion that whether I could share any picture or even cover the tourist areas reaching Bolpur. But the rain stopped and a clear sunny weather helped me a lot in experiencing the reality. 

        With the unavailability of train service, now it is by only a car or a two-wheeler one can reach Bolpur. And till now, as per my knowledge the SBSTC bus service to Bolpur is also unavailable. So, I visited there by car. And while going through the National Highway, I found that the Highways are heavily crowded by trucks and other heavy goods vehicles. Their total number may be just a double or even more than a double than normal times in pre-covid period. This abnormality had created traffic snarls in quite a few places.

Traffic Jam near Dankuni Toll tax

        The most astonishing part of the journey was in the road leading to Bolpur. Bolpur, the most preferred tourist destination in West Bengal after Digha and Darjeeling, has a huge rush of tourists in every weekends. This huge tourist flow in Bolpur, creates huge passenger rush in trains of Howrah-Rampurhat Section and many people avoid the crowded trains and avail road journey to Bolpur. But this time I found the Road leading to Bolpur totally clear. We met Hardly a few cars and buses in the total stretch. A totally deserted road, which is the first striking feature, which tells the condition of the tourist dependent towns of Bolpur or Tarapith. 

           Those who have visited Bolpur must have come across the experience of a toto (E-rickshaw locally called in West Bengal) ride there. Totos are one of the most available and probably most preferred mode of transport in Bolpur. Tourists too used totos for their visit to places associated with Rabindranath Tagore and Viswabharati and even to Kankaleswari Temple, which is about 7-8KM from Santiniketan. These totos used to take a heavy rate from tourists, and a regular complain from tourists of Bolpur was regarding excessive and improper  rates of local transport for exploring places of interest. But now, they are totally sitting idle, waiting for a passenger. And a bargaining while hiring a toto is now just a matter of past. Now, the situation is like that, while stepping out they will approach you to have a ride in his toto. And while asking rates they are just keeping it upon the passenger. Saying "Apni to janen amader obostha, cholun, ja bhalo bojhen deben... (You are aware of our conditions, please have a ride and give whatever you feel worthy of...)"

Deserted road leading to Bolpur

     

         According to a toto driver, "Dada, ration pacchi, tate chole jacche. Bajar ekdom kharap. Lok na ele evabe ar cholbe na. Train cholle sohor theke lok asbe, tarao ghurte parbe, amrao hate kichu taka pabo... (We are presently living on the free ration supplied by the Govt, the local economy had totally broken. If tourists from Kolkata comes and train service resumes, we can earn something for our livelihood. Without tourists it is becoming tougher day by day...)"

        After a chat with the Toto driver, I visited Santiniketan Tourist Lodge, the most profit-making property of the West Bengal Tourism. The words of the manager there is another indicator of what is going through this tourist dependent town. He said that at that time there was just a single AC Room booked in the whole complex. 

        Then I visited a famous sweet shop near the Tourist Lodge. According to them there business too is dependent on tourists and students of Viswabharati University. Without tourists and students, they are also facing problem. There I met a local resident. According to him, "Ar koto? Etodin to holo? Ebar savabik hok. Nahole Coronar che besi manush mara jabe depression ar na khete pe... (Enough is enough, now its time to open up and make things normal. Further lockdown will only create problems and it force more people to died of starvation and mental depression than people dying of Covid-19...)" 

Deserted Roads and shops of Bhuvandanga

        Then I had a walk to the Bhuvandanga, the market place for tourists near the Poush Mela ground. The shops which are generally crowded by tourists in every weekend is now totally empty. The shops were open but I could not find a single buyer in any shop. About a 500 meter walk from Bhuvandanga is the gateway of Uttarayan, the house of Rabindranath Tagore, presently a museum. The museum is closed for tourists and the total area is deserted. 

        Here I am uploading few pictures which will well depict the condition in Santiniketan Area. From this picture you can understand the reality in this tourism dependent town of West Bengal... 

         

Deserted Roads at Santiniketan on way to Uttarayan

Kopai Bridge

Way to Kopai River totally deserted

        These pictures along with the above story may have given you a good amount of negetivity. But in this short tour there is a positive picture too. And that is the River Kopai, which received a good amount of water from the heavy rains in last few days. Here is the picture for you. 

River Kopai

        This is my experience in Bolpur during my visit last week. The thing I witness there is the condition of common people in these towns, which are not much industrially developed and have a huge population which depends on tourism industry either directly or indirectly is going worse day by day. A large number of people is presently totally depending on free rationing system provided by the Government. It is really tough to believe the situation in these towns sitting in a big city. The main voice I found there from different people is let the railways start operating and tourists visit this place. This is the ground reality from a tourist town of West Bengal.

        Today I have somewhat disappoint you all with such a negetive story. But this is the ground reality, which we could not escape. Please comment me about your views regarding this story and also share me whether you too also experience such a reality in any other place. Today, its over and I promise very shortly I will be right back with a new story of a new place, which would be enjoyable and not at all like this one. Good night and stay safe...