Tourists visiting Darjeeling on June 4 will have to content themselves with Chowrasta, the popular promenade in the hill town, or the joy rides by the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

The Darjeeling district administration has sent letters to the authorities of five popular tourist spots in the hill town, asking them to close those places to visitors on June 4 to avoid traffic congestion.

The decision was taken because of the counting of votes in the general election on June 4. The counting for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat will be held at Darjeeling Government College.

“To avoid traffic congestion on that day, the district magistrate has sent letters to the authorities,” said a source in the administration.

The Gorkha War Memorial at Batasia Loop, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park or the zoo, Tiger Hill and the Darjeeling Rangeet Valley Ropeway will be shut on June 4.

The regional transport officer of Darjeeling also wrote to nine associations which represent cab owners and drivers, informing them that the popular tourist spots would be closed on June 4.

“The intimation has been given in advance so that transporters can make appropriate arrangements. Even cab associations based at the New Jalpaiguri railway station and the Bagdogra airport, which are two common transit points, have been informed,” the source said.

Such a decision by the administration has put stakeholders of the tourism industry under pressure.

Debasis Chakraborty, the general secretary of the Eastern Himalaya Travel & Tour Operators Association, said several tourists had booked trips and would reach Darjeeling in the first week of June.

“According to their itinerary, a considerable section of them is supposed to visit these popular spots. But now that the administration has taken such a decision, we will have to revise their itineraries,” said Chakraborty.