tea · Murti, Dooars
Tea lanes and village roads around Murti
The gardens around Murti and Chalsa were planted in the decades after 1874, when tea spread rapidly across the western Dooars. Rows of bushes stand under tall shade trees, crossed by drains and estate roads. From March to November, pluckers move along the rows in the morning, and lorries carry leaf to the factory in the afternoon.
Your guide can explain how the garden works: pruning cycles, plucking rounds, the weighing shed, and the factory where green leaf becomes CTC tea. They can also talk about the people. Many workers are descendants of families recruited from the Chota Nagpur plateau, and they speak Sadri and keep festivals such as Karam.
Walk on estate roads only with permission or a guide, greet people, and ask before taking photos. Workers' homes are private. If you buy tea, buy it from a proper shop or the garden's own outlet, not from strangers on the road.
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Questions people ask
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Can I walk inside tea gardens near Murti
Some estate roads are used as public roads and you can walk them. Inside the gardens, you need permission from the garden office, which your lodge or a local guide can arrange. Do not walk between the bushes or into workers' lines uninvited.
Who works in the Dooars tea gardens
Mostly Adivasi families whose ancestors were recruited from the Chota Nagpur plateau (Oraon, Munda, Santal and others), along with Nepali and other communities. Many speak Sadri as a common language. Tea work is hard and wages have long been a political issue in North Bengal.
When do the Dooars tea gardens pluck
From about March to November, with the heaviest crop in the monsoon. In winter, December to February, bushes are pruned and factories shut for maintenance. For a walk with plucking under way, go in spring or autumn mornings.