The recent flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in north Bengal have caused massive destruction in at least 30-35 tea gardens in Darjeeling, with reports of loss of plantation areas, deaths of workers and damage to houses of labourers, prompting planters to convene a meeting to assess the situation, stakeholders said.
The unrest in the hills has led to the tea sector losing its entire second flush, and Rs 200 crore of its annual earnings.
Scanty rainfall, last year's lockdown, growing competition from Nepal and the disaster of the 2017 Gorkhaland agitation are steadily weakening exports and sales of Darjeeling tea.
The world-famous Darjeeling tea is losing its flavour even as it struggles with falling production, says Avishek Rakshit.
Over the years, India has also lost its CTC market heavily to Kenya. And, Sri Lanka, which markets the Ceylon tea brand, has also been able to aggressively tap these markets.
With the first salary date after demonetisation around the corner, will India's labourers be able to take their hard-earned wages home?
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