Commuters between the Darjeeling hills and the plains were beleaguered with the state government holding an administrative meeting in Kurseong, as the local administration decided to divert most vehicles through the Mirik route.

This meant travellers from Darjeeling to Siliguri, and vice-versa, had to travel for two extra hours.

Kurseong lies midway between Darjeeling and Siliguri and is the main route for commuters between the two towns. Those travelling through the Kurseong hill have three routes to choose from: National Highway 55, Rohini Road and Pankabari Road. But all pass through Kurseong town.

The administration limited traffic on all three routes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee held an administrative meeting in Kurseong on Tuesday and stayed over on Wednesday.

“Since yesterday (Tuesday) we have been directing almost all the vehicles travelling between Darjeeling and Siliguri through Mirik,” said a traffic constable at Jorebunglow.

On a normal day, people reach Siliguri from Darjeeling within two-and-a-half hours.

Mirik is situated on the opposite hill of Kurseong, and it normally takes four-and-a-half hours to reach Siliguri from Darjeeling via this route.

People had to pay higher fares too.

“Yesterday (Tuesday), people travelling from Gangtok to Siliguri, and vice-versa, had to pay almost Rs 9,000 instead of the normal fare of Rs 3,500 to hire a car,” said a travel agent from Gangtok.

This is because following the closure of NH10, which connects the Himalayan state with the rest of the country, traffic was being diverted through Teesta-Jorebunglow-Kurseong to reach Siliguri.

“This earlier diversion meant that the fare had been hiked from Rs 3,500 to Rs 6,000,” said the travel agent.

However, the Darjeeling administration further diverting the vehicles via Mirik meant an extra expense. The NH10 route was opened at around 4.30pm on Tuesday.

Travellers from Darjeeling to Siliguri, who would have normally paid Rs 2,500, had to pay Rs 4,000.

Even commuters within Kurseong town faced inconvenience, as traffic along the town’s two main roads was limited. A policeman was seen using his official vehicle to ferry an old woman from the Zero Point to the Giddepahar area in town on Wednesday morning, as movement of local taxis was limited.

Lower rung officers also lamented about lack of infrastructure.

“There are only a handful of hotels in Kurseong and accommodation is a problem. Moreover, we could not take all the rooms and had to leave aside 30 per cent of the rooms to the hotels,” said an official.

Many employees who travel from Siliguri to Kurseong on a daily basis also had to take leave because of paucity of vehicles to Kurseong.

Darjeeling and Kalimpong, however, do not have problems like Kurseong.

On Wednesday morning, Mamata Banerjee took a walk to the Mahanadi, covering a to and fro distance of about 10km from the circuit house where she was staying.

Bengal minister and singer Indranil Sen sang a song penned by Mamata, as she sipped tea at a roadside stall along NH55, along with their cabinet colleague Aroop Biswas.

Sources said the chief minister also bought a child-sized pair of shoes and slippers at the Mahanadi.