The tourism department of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has taken the initiative to promote Dhotrey, a remote village in the Darjeeling hills, as the cleanest hill village in all of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.
The decision, GTA sources said, will be officially declared at the Melo Tea Festival to be held in the hills later this month.
“We have taken an initiative to promote the hilly hamlet (Dhotrey) as the first ‘Cleanest Village’ within the GTA area,” said Dawa Gyalpo Sherpa, field director of the adventure tourism of the GTA, adding that the announcement would be made during the fest.
Located at an elevation of 8,550 feet, Dhotrey is on the fringes of the Singalila National Park. The pristine rural area surrounded by mountains is 105km away from Siliguri and 45kmaway from Darjeeling town.
People who reside in the village depend on organic farming for their livelihood. Recently, the GTA has decorated their dwellings into traditional Gorkha huts and the entire area has been turned into a no-plastic zone.
Apart from the cleanliness drive and makeover of the houses, the GTA has trained 31 local youths to work as guides for tourists and trekkers and maintain cleanliness in the village.
“There are plans to promote the Bijanbari-Dhotrey route (a 9km stretch) as a new trekkers’ route to Sandakphu. The area is scenic with a view of rivers and mountains and is also convenient for hikers,” said Sherpa.
The GTA, he said, has also taken the task to clean some other tourist destinations, in association with the local stakeholders of the tourism industry. Recently, they have cleaned the famous Sumendu Lake in Mirik. A similar drive was conducted at Maneybhanjan and Rimbik areas along the Sandakphu route to clear waste from the Singalila National Park area.
“In Kalimpong, such drives were carried out in Deolo and Lava where hundreds of tourists visit every day,” Sherpa added.