Brief Note On The Main Causes Hampering The Environment Of Darjeeling Hills

TRAFFIC PROBLEM AND POOR CONDITION OF THE ROADS - The main causes hampering the environment of Darjeeling hills are- poor condition of roads, increasing number of vehicles, Traffic congestions ,roadside construction of houses, hotels, restaurants and shops etc.

POOR CONDITION OF NH55 – Basically the average width of the National Highway55(NH55) connecting Darjeeling and Siliguri should be 7.5 meters but due to the encroachment and constructions the width of NH 55 have become narrower in some places.

Table 7:Narrow roads(NH-55) due to encroachment

Part of NH55 Average of width of the roads

From Mahanandi to Kurseong 4 m

From Kurseong to Sonada 4 m

From Sonada to Ghoom 4.5 m

From Ghoom to Darjeeling 6.5 m Source:

All these factors are responsible for the slope failure in hills mainly along the road thus rapid deforestation has drastically changed the landscape of Darjeeling hills.

Findings-

1. The urban areas of three hill stations viz. Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong are facing tremendous urban problem, there has been an immense increase in the number of households, hotels and restaurants for the past 5 to 10 years.

2. The number of migrants and immigrants are increasing at an alarming rate.

3. Deforestation and urbanisation are main causes of landslide in the hills.

4. Water scarcity has become of major problem due to the increase in population and the increased number of tourists as well.

5. The water supplied by private jeeps and trucks are very unhygienic affecting the health of people.

6. Number of vehicles in Darjeeling is increasing every year there by causing constant load and lateral vibration making the weaker section of NH 55

There should not be over exploitation of resources due to large number of tourists.

2. The concerned authority should take an immediate action in order to tackle the increasing number of migrants of immigrants.

3. Tourism is the main occupation of the hill people but the major landslides occur during the peak tourist season . Therefore, to reduce the landslides, Siblings should be immediately planted at the base areas and afforested programmes should be carried out . The local grasses having strong binding capacity viz babio (Esclopsia binita), Amliso(thysonaleaner agrostis )and Bankodo( Decly loctorium aegiticum) should be planted.

4. The construction of roads and deforestation over the fragile zone should be immediately stopped.

5. Tea garden should not be extended at the cost of forest.

6. Planning of infrastructure specially in Darjeeling town should be done with due consideration of its ecology.

7. .Awareness programmes regarding the environmental degradation and Eco-conservation should be