People enjoy bandh-free Darjeeling

Several tea gardens started functioning from early morning as workers began cleaning the plantations that had been shut for long.

All shops and markets reopened and vehicles were plying as usual, police said.

Tour operators and hotel owners hoped that visitors would also return to the hills where tourism is their mainstay.

Various hills parties, including GJM, extended greetings of Durga Puja to the people of the hills and several NGOs distributed sweets and chocolates.

The ban on Internet was withdrawn on September 25 in view of normalcy returning to the hills.

The GJM on Tuesday night had said the indefinite shutdown in Darjeeling hills would be suspended from Wednesday in response to an appeal made by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.