Three killed on NH 34

MALDA, 29 MAY: Three members of a family were killed and two others injured when they were hit by a speeding lorry on National Highway 34 at English Bazaar town in Malda today. The lorry lost control and struck a rickshaw on which the family of four was travelling. The deceased have been identified as Rita Mandal (45) and her daughters Juli Mandal (20) and Jhumjhumi Mandal (13). Rita's 10-year-old son Biswajit Mandal was also hurt in the accident and is undergoing treatment. The rickshaw puller Krishna Dey is in critical condition and fighting for life in the Malda district hospital. The doctors are not hopeful about his condition. Locals caught hold of the driver of the offending vehicle, Mr Munshi Mandi, and assaulted him severely. The police rescued him and admitted him into hospital for treatment. Tension erupted in the area after the incident as an angry mob damaged the lorry and tried to set it on fire. The police had to make a lathi-charge to disperse the mob and clear the NH 34 of congestion. Traffic came to a halt on the highway when the irate mob started agitating, demanding proper traffic manage-ment on NH 34 from Rathbari to Sukanta More. The police intervened to clear the NH of the agitators.;SNS

Congress unhappy with the new additions in the UPA ministry

MALDA, MAY 28:The swearing in of half a dosen Trinamul MPs, into the UPA ministry today, has sent the Congress leadership in Malda on a sulk.

“The Trinamul rode the Congress wave to win 19 seats and has been awarded with half a dozen ministers, while the Congress got just one in West Bengal. It is disappointing”, said Mr. Krishnendu Choudhury, Congress MLA, English Bazaar.

The upset tone is prevailing in the Congress, here. Sharing the MLA’s view, the Malda district Congress, Vice President, Mr. Masudur Rahman said: “We are upset. I am watching the swearing in ceremony on TV, but till now not a single Muslim woman has been inducted in the Cabinet and no MP from north Bengal either”.

“This would make our position uncomfortable before the 2011 Assembly elections”.

“The Congress high command, should consider at least one ministerial berth from north Bengal. Malda is in the Congress belt, but neither the elected Mr. A H Khan Choudhury nor Ms Mausam Noor, were induected in the ministry”.

“According to our information, Ms. Noor was a major contender, but she too has been ignored in the final count”, Mr. Rahaman added.

According to a section of Congress leadership in Malda , some Congress MPs were against Ms Noor’s elevation , as they were favouring berths for the seniors. SNS

Anti-erosion schemes for Fulohar

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 28 MAY: The Mahananda Embankment division, another wing of the irrigation department in Malda, has prepared two temporary anti-erosion schemes for the protection of Bhaluka Bazaar area in Harishchandrapur in the northern part of the district. Though the department had proposed a Rs 7 crore scheme to stem erosion of the river Fulohar at Bhaluka Bazaar, the department could not take initiative to ready the scheme over the last few months due to the Model Code of Conduct for the general elections. The executive engineer, Mahananda Embankment division, Mr BN Das, said: “Due to severe erosion of the river Fulohar, large areas were eroded away last year and at present the river bank line touches the existing embankment located at Bhaluka Bazaar.” “A 1.5 km stretch was hit by erosion last year and out of that, an area of nearly 500m is highly vulnerable. Without preventive measures, the present embankment, the thickly populated area and local market place, may be wiped out this monsoon," said Mr BN Das. According to Mr Das, one scheme has been sent to the superintendent engineer in the north central circle and chief engineer in Kolkata for approval and another scheme is being prepared by the departmental engineers. Nearly Rs 50 lakh has been estimated for the protection of the bank of Fulohar so that the existing embankment for flood protection can prevent flood waters effectively during monsoon, when its water level will cross the danger mark. “We are waiting for final approval from our higher authorities and then will issue float a tender to begin the anti-erosion work at Bhaluka Bazaar,” Mr Das said.

North Bengal celebrates good Madhyamik results

Statesman News Service

SILIGURI, 28 MAY: Sayari Saha of Sunity Academy and Saumen Saha of Dinhata High School, both in Cooch Behar district, performed extremely well in the Madhyamik examination this year. Both scored 752 marks.More good results from north Bengal are coming in. While Soumyadip Basak of AC Institution in Malda secured 730 marks, Ramig Rega of Nahit HS School, Kusumandi, in South Dinajpur district, acquired 742 marks in the Madhyamik. The Malda boy had to overcome poverty and other obstacles to secure the high marks. He also secured 100 marks in Physical Science and Mathematics and is the possible topper in the district.Besides Soumyadip, Krishna Mandal of Mashaldighi Sibabrati Jew Vidvyapith in Gazole secured 726 marks while Parna-kitab Mandal of Gazole HNM HS School, the son of a rickshaw puller, secured 722 marks, surprising all. In South Dinajpur district, Arindam Bhowmik of Gangarampur High School achieved 738 marks and Soham Dutta of Balurghat High School got 729 marks. Both are among the top scorers in the district.The Jalpaiguri district by comparison has not done so well in this Madhamik examination. “The percentage secured by students who passed the examinations this year from Jalpaiguri district is less than in the other five districts of north Bengal,” said Mr Biswanath Chatterjee, member of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Examinations.The district's socio-economic condition could be a reason for the poor show, academics say. A major percentage of students from the district belong to the tea plantations and tribal dominated areas which are in the midst of turmoil. Several schoolteachers of Jalpaiguri district support the contention. This said, Paramita Chakraborty of Falakata Girls’ School secured 738 marks and is the possible first in the district this year, followed by Iindrila Bhattacharya of Alipurduar New Town Girls’ High School, who secured 734 marks.

Landslide toll hits 23

Statesman News Service

KURSEONG/MALDA/COOCH BEHAR, 27 MAY: The death toll from the Darjeeling hill landslide rose to 23 with the recovery of three more unidentified bodies from Haridashatta in Darjeeling today. Rescue workers fear more people remain buried under the debris in the slide-hit areas of Darjeeling and Kurseong sub-divisions.The affected areas remain without power or water supply. Transportation is far below normal throughout the Darjeeling hills. The West Bengal Governor Mr Gopal Krishna Gandhi visited the Cutlery Busty in Kurseong today and took stock of the situation. The locality took a heavy toll from the landslide.The SDO Kurseong Mr Dibyendu Das said that the government would pay Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased within the next two or three months. The administration has opened three relief camps at Springfield as well as Castleton Tea Estate and Community in Kurseong to shelter the victims.The Darjeeling MP Mr Jaswant Singh visited the affected sites today. “A four-member team has been set up to prepare a report on the situation and funds from the MPLAD would be disbursed accordingly,” Mr Singh said in Kurseong today.Mr Singh also said that he would raise the Darjeeling landslide issue in Parliament and demand funds from the Central Calamity Relief Fund to rehabilitate the victims. The Darjeeling Rajya Sabha MP Mr Saman Pathak has allotted a fund of Rs 10 lakh for the rehabilitation and restoration worksMeanwhile, in the aftermath of Aila has disrupted the power network, affecting the drinking water supply across the district. Yesterday, due to lack of power, the lifting of waters from rivers, treatment process and distribution of drinking water was disrupted in various water treatment plants run by the public health engineering (PHE) department. The arsenic-free water treatment plants located at Mathurapur in Manikchak, Dariapur in Kaliachak III and at Gour in English Bazaar were badly hit. Following complaints, the electricity department has been able to fix the power supply network today. In some places the department took more time to repair damages caused by the storm. As a result, PHE engineers faced problems at Mathurapur in Manikchak and Gour in English Bazaar today. Around 12.00 p.m. today, the electricity department was able to restore power supply at the Mathurapur surface water treatment plant. Mr DK Mondal, divisional manager, State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, Malda, said: “Departmental staff restored the power supply for water treatment plants on an emergency basis. Today, they took some time to complete repairs and restore a stable power supply to the plants.” “Today, around 12.00 p.m, power supply was restored and the supply of drinking waters from the plant is running properly,” said Mr S Maitra, executive engineer, PHE (arsenic division) in the northern zone. Another executive engineer of the PHE (arsenic division) in the southern zone, Mr D Banerjee, said: “Yesterday, we could not begin work on water treatment and supply. However, we started work this morning at Dariapur water treatment plant in Kalaichak III. Though the power supply has been restored at Gour water treatment plant in English Bazaar, it is not stable.” Thousands of residents of Manikchak, Ratua, Kaliachak I, II and III and also English Bazaar depend on the supply of drinking waters from the PHE. To a safer havenIncessant downpour on Butan Hills has caused havoc in Cooch Behar. The rivers that came down from the hilly area have taken on a dangerous role at villages under Tufanganj-I, Tufanganj-II, Cooch Behar-I and Mekhliganj blocks. The swelling rivers already breached several embankments. Numerous homeless people have been shifted to safer areas. The district administration are anxiously anticipating high floods in this monsoon.The Ridak river breached a roughly 800m stretch of embankment at Bholapara under Mahiskuchi gram panchayat in Tufanganj. More than 500 distressed families were shifted from the area. A 600m stretch of another embankment at Rampur and Falimari area was also breached. The condition of the embankment of Torsa at Maruganj is also alarming. The Torsa and Kaljani started fresh erosion of lands at Dawaguri. Already, the overflowing river has damaged the dyke made in 1985. The condition of Baxirkuthi village is also growing grave. The additional district magistrate (development) of Cooch Behar Mr Pannalal Mahapatra said the block development officials of all the affected areas had been asked to shift the residents of the concerned villages to safer areas.In Mekhliganj, the rainwater from the Bhutan Hills has swelled the Tista. The alluvial lands on the banks of the river have become submerged and a large number of people were confined in the area. About 300 affected families were shifted yesterday evening but about 450 families are still to be rescued. Seven country boats flowed away on the river. Vast cultivated areas and many dwellings were damaged in that area. Though the ‘red’ signal was withdrawn from the Tista at Mekhliganj last night, it is still ‘yellow’ as the water level is flowing over the danger mark. Moreover, the ‘yellow’ signal has been flashed over the Raidak and the Kaljani in Tufanganj.The annual district level flood preparatory meeting was held on Monday with officials of all concerned departments. It was decided there to run the Flood Control Room round the clock from 1 June. Observing the alarming situation following the downpour that started on Monday night, the control room came into effect yesterday, said the additional district magistrate (development). The ADM (D) also claimed that there were relief materials in the district to meet worrying situations. But, as there is a possibility of high floods during this monsoon, more relief materials may be needed. The district administration has requested the state government to send additional relief materials and funds. A few highlands have been identified to use as helipads during emergencies. As Tufanganj is known as a major flood prone area, more life jackets are to be kept ready there for rescue operations.Crops worth Rs Rs 34.18 crore and vegetables were damaged in North Dinajpur by the cyclonic storm and incessant rain in the district on Monday night. The officials of the district agricultural department today measured the value of damaged crops and vegetables and sent the figures to both the district magistrate of North Dinajpur Mr Ramanuj Chakraborty and to the director of the state agricultural department.

Organisaitonal failure behind BJP poll debacle

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 26 MAY: The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, in Malda, Have completed their post-poll analysis and blamed organizational weaknesses for their failure.

BJP candidate, Mr. Amlan Bhaduri said he did not believe that, people here voted in favour of the Congress, to firm a stable government in the Centre. “BJP voters cased their votes against the CPI-M candidate in North Malda on various issues, when they understood that the candidate would not be able to win here”, Mr. Bhaduri said.

According to him, nearly 18,000 voters in Gazole, belonging to the BJP, did not cast their votes for their candidate , but preferred to cast cotes for their candidate , but preferred to cast votes in favour of the Congress candidate Ms Mausam Noor, just to defeat the CPI-M.

In 2004, the BJP candidate, with the help of the Trinamul Congress had secured 39,000 votes in Gazole Assembly constituency. In the last Assembly polls, the BJP candidate had bagged more than 25,000 votes.

“We expected that the BJP would be able to bag at least 25,000 votes in the Gazole Assmebly constituency. But I got only 7,632 votes from Gazole”, Mr. Bhaduri said.

He also pointed out that, “We expected at least 48,000 votes from Habibpur assembly constituency’s vote-bank, but majority of our supporters living in Bamongola block, close to Gazole block, have cast their votes in favour of the Congress candidate on the same issue. As a result, I obtained only 21,717 votes from Habibpur assemblu segment”.

In Old Malda assembly segment, the BJP candidate did not get expected votes. Though the expected at least 25,000 votes from this segment, 17,110 votes were bagged.

Mr. Bhaduri said: “ I had expected at least 1.25 lakh votes from seven constituent assemblies, under the Noth Malda parliamentary constituency , based on previous records , but I obtained only 61,515 votes. We could not check the erosion on our vote bank due to lack of man power and organizational weaknesses at the last movement”.

“The Congress candidate in North Malda, had finally defeated it nearest CPI-M candidate in north Malda , by a margin of 60,141 votes , totally based on BJP’s vote bank”, Mr. Bhaduri said. (END)

At least twenty dead in DarjeeLing landslides, Cyclone shifts to jharkhand

THE DAY AFTER…

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, 26 MAY: Cyclonic storm Aila finally moved towards Jharkhand today but not before claiming 65 lives and rendering over 61,000 people homeless. Meanwhile, at least 20 people died, four went missing and several others were badly injured in massive landslides across the Darjeeling Hills since early today.The state chief secretary, Mr Asok Mohan Chakrabarti, put the number of storm-affected people at 2.2 million. He said at Writers' Buildings today that 109 relief camps had been set up in different places. More than 61,000 houses collapsed in the districts. More than 132,000 houses were partially damaged. A total of 61,000 people have taken shelter at various relief camps.The state government has sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for the affected people. According to reports reaching Writers', 16 people were killed in the storm in North 24-Parganas while 15 deaths were reported from South 24-Parganas. Seven people died in Howrah, while five people in the city lost their lives during the storm. Two deaths were reported from Midnapore East and Malda while Murshidabad and Birbhum reported three and two deaths, respectively. Five people have died in Hooghly, officials said.Mr Chakrabarti said two columns of Army had been pressed into rescue operations in North and South 24-Parganas. Dry food and water pouches were dropped from helicopters in affected areas. The Centre has rushed four companies of National Disaster Response Force to South and North 24 Parganas. Army and Air Force helicopters have also been pressed into service for supplying essential commodities and rescuing the marooned. The home ministry assured the state government that it would ensure all assistance that may be required. Though rescue operation began yesterday, relief material couldn't be distributed to affected people in many remote places in worst-hit South 24-Parganas. Earlier in the day, chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and railway minister Miss Mamata Banerjee visited relief camps in the district and inspected the devastation caused by Aila. People displaced from their homes complained to the ministers about inadequate relief material. The city ~ where seven people were killed in the storm yesterday ~ is struggling hard to come back to normal as several roads remained blocked and a large number of pockets witnessed prolonged power cuts.The storm hit districts like Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad, Bankura late in the evening yesterday after hitting South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Howrah in the afternoon. In South 24 Parganas, ~ the worst hit district ~ about 60,000 homeless people have been shifted to 43 relief camps. Mr Khalil Ahmad, district magistrate, said stress was being laid on providing food and safe drinking water to the affected who had taken shelter in the relief camps. According to a spokesperson of the South Eastern Railway, five express trains were cancelled and three rescheduled today. Officials said eight local trains in Sealdah South section were cancelled this morning. Malda: In Malda, one person was killed and 10 were injured in the cyclone last night. The deceased has been identified as Anil Choudhury , resident of Kachupukur village in Habibpur block. His wife and others were injured seriously when their house collapsed. Mango cultivation has incurred huge losses estimated to exceed Rs 4 crore in the district. Besides, vegetables, bananas and betel leaves worth Rs 3.5 crore are also reported to have been destroyed. North Dinajpur: In North Dinajpur, around 5,000 huts collapsed and another 10,000 were partly damaged in all nine blocks of Islampur, Chopra, Goalpokhar-1, Goalpokhar-2, Karandighi, Raiganj, Hemtabad ,Itahar and Kaliyaganj. Cooch Behar: The storm claimed one life and damaged about 14,000 dwellings in the district. Jalpaiguri: Several birds in the Buxa Tiger reserve forest were killed in the cyclone and torrential rain. South Dinajpur: A 35-year old woman who sustained severe injuries in a house collapse in South Dinajpur during the storm died in hospital this evening. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura during the next 24 hours, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said today.

Students get double aid for purchase of books

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 25 MAY: A section of students in secondary schools of this district have been receiving ‘double’ financial assistance for buying textbooks from two government departments.

The headmasters allegedly have been disbursing funds for book grants received from the SSA (Sarba Shiksha Abhijan) and the BCW (Backward Class Welfare) department owing to the lack of a specific guideline from the education department.

The district education department in Malda had detected the ‘double payment’ problem but failed to check the misuse of government funds.

The district inspector of schools in Malda, Mr Chinmay Sarkar, admitted to the problem: “A section of students belonging to the backward classes are receiving double payment here. To check this practice we will point out the matter at a meeting convened by the state SSA project director Mr Manish Jain to be held tomorrow in Kolkata.”

The district project officer of BCW Mr Sadhan Kurmar Das said: “The headmasters will be held responsible for the ‘double payment’ and disbursement of funds because they have a list of students who should get financial assistance from the BCW department. A student cannot receive financial assistance from two government departments for the same purpose.”

It may be noted that the BCW department provides funds to students belonging to the SC, ST and other backward classes for buying books, through the headmasters. The BCW department selects students whose family income is less than Rs 36,000 per year. The BCW department allots Rs 20 per student of class V per year. For class VI, Rs 150 is allotted per year; Rs 200 for class VII; Rs 280 for VIII, and Rs 500 for class XI.

Earlier, the SSA used to allot TBG (text book grant) funds only to girls and then extended the funds to SC, ST and Minority students. The students belonging to the general category had previously been deprived of the book grant funds. The SSA now allots Rs 250 (on average) in TBG funds for all students, regardless of categorisation, including the general category students.

Though there is a government order stating that the school authorities must procure textbooks and distribute them among the students, some school authorities - just to avoid the extra job - are distributing the money directly to the students or their guardians. Some schools are keeping back some of the money, and not giving out the full Rs 250 per student per year.

The matter came to light after students and their guardians agitated, pointing out that by government order students should have been receiving Rs 250 per student from the SSA, while the school authorities were only giving out TBG funds of around Rs 120 to Rs 150 per student.

When asked, the DI Mr Chinmay Sarkar said: “We have allotted Rs 250 per student on the enrolment list sent by the school authorities last September. We have specifically asked the school authorities to procure textbooks for distribution. In fact, buying books rather than giving out money leaves schools with spare funds on their hands, as the actual cost of textbooks for class VI is Rs 180, for class VII Rs 230, and for class VII Rs 240.”

“Many reputed schools in Malda town have procured textbooks and distributed them among students. However, despite the government order, a section of school authorities did not follow instructions. Some schools have even bought extra reference books for their libraries with the TBG funds they've held back,” Mr Sarkar added.

Family rivals: Khan Choudhury and Noor vie for ministerial berth

MALDA, 25 MAY: The Congress leadership of Malda district, including the South Malda MP Mr AH Khan Choudhury, are camping in New Delhi for a ministerial berth but nothing has come their way so far.

The district Congress leadership is sharply divided between support for Mr AH Khan Choudhury and his niece, the North Malda MP Miss Mausam Noor. The Malda based Congress are hopeful that Mr Khan Choudhury would finally get a minister of state berth.

“Three MPs, including Mr Khan Choudhury, are in the race for a ministerial berth. Mrs Deepa Das Munshi, who won from Raiganj, and Mr Adhir Chowdhury are also contenders,” said the English Bazaar MLA Mr Krishnendu Choudhury, who is in New Delhi.

“Since Mr Pranab Mukherjee has been made the finance minister, West Bengal would get one more Union minister of state. We have approached senior party leaders here to consider Mr AH Khan Choudhury's candidature as a minister of state and hope he would be selected,” the MLA added.

According to the MLA, there is a slim chance that Miss Mausam Noor will be elevated to ministerial status. He cited as evidence a meeting held by the Congress general secretary Mr Rahul Gandhi asking young MPs, including Miss Noor, to gather more experience about the Parliamentary system and the organization.

“The young MPs have been asked to look after the party's youth and student wings to strengthen the organisation and the party across the country,” he said. ;sns

Early monsoon may hit project

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 25 MAY: The engineers of the irrigation department in Malda fear that early monsoon may hamper the ongoing anti-erosion project on the bank of the Mahananda along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

“We have targeted to finish the basic foundation of anti-erosion work along the border by June but the early monsoon may hamper the work, in which case the project will be resumed in November and completed by January 2010,” said the executive engineer, Mr S Misra, irrigation department, Malda.

The Centre had sanctioned the project following the nod of the Central Water Commission. A total of Rs 33 crore has been allotted to the project to save Indian land from erosion by erecting fencing on the bank of the river Mahananda in the Old Malda and Habibpur area.

The project covers nearly 6 km along the border.

Meanwhile, the circuit embankment at Kasharpur in Bhutni Diara under Manikchak block is under threat due to severe erosion.

Last year, the department had proposed building a retired embankment (a second defence line) for further flood protection.

However, the irrigation department had suffered obstruction, as the Model Code of Conduct imposed by the recent Lok Sabha elections prevented the construction of the retired embankment.

“If the existing circuit embankment at Kasharpur breaches this year we will construct a temporary guard wall (dwarf embankment) on an emergency basis to prevent flood waters from entering into villages,” said Mr Misra.

Water supply suspended

MALDA, MAY 24: The public health engineering (arsenic division) department in Malda suspended the lifting of water and the supply of drinking water from the river Fulohar on Friday, due to suspicions that the river water had become contaminated.

Thousands are suffering from the suspension of water supply at Ratua, Manikchak, Kaliachak II and parts of English Bazaar block and town.

The matter came to light when villagers noticed that hundreds of dead fish were floating on the river, where the intake point of the arsenic-free water treatment plant is located, and informed the PHE officials.

“Many fish have died at a particular point of the river where our intake plant is located at Balupur in Ratua. To avoid any chance of health hazards, we suspended the lifting of water from the river and the supply of drinking water,” said Mr Swapan Maitra, the executive engineer (arsenic division), PHE, Malda.

“We have also decided not to risk lifting water from the river at our plant at Mathurapur in Manikchak, which is downstream from the spot suspected of contamination. We have pumped out water from the underground water reservoir at the Mathurapur plant and cleaned the reservoir,” said Mr Maitra. The river water's contamination has not been affirmed. Water samples lifted from various points near the Ratua and Mathurapur plants are now being tested.

The PHE supplied drinking water this afternoon from the old stock of water from the reservoir located at Doulatpur in English Bazaar to meet the crisis. "We have decided to mix more bleach with the water than normal, to destroy bacteria before supplying any more drinking water from our two plants located at Balupur in Ratua and Mathurapur in Manikchak,” Mr Maitra said. ;sns

Cops bust ‘snatch & run’ attempt on morning walkers

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 24 MAY: English Bazaar police arrested one Mr Sabir Sheikh and seized a firearm from his possession early today on Bandh road in Malda town, saying that he and his associates tried to snatch a gold chain from women morning walkers.

Police reported that Mr Sheikh's accomplices fled after other morning walkers, including plainclothes police, began chasing them.

The additional SP in Malda, Mr Kalyan Mukherjee, happened to be one of the morning walkers on Bandh road today, and played a key role in nabbing the alleged snatcher. Bandh road is near the SP's bungalow.

"The snatchers came to that area with two-wheelers and tried to snatch a gold chain from women morning walkers early today. The arrested Sabir has been identified as a resident of Bamongram in Kaliachak police station area," said a police officer.

Such incidents have been on the increase in Malda town of late. The criminals tend to use two-wheelers, snatch their booty while in the running position, and flee.

LF reviews poll results, blames loss on wrong policies

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 22 MAY: Though the Malda district Left Front has not finalised the date of its review meeting with all partners to retrospect on Lok Sabha polls debacle in this district, district leaders of many Left Front partners have completed primary investigation after the results.

“People here have cast votes on local issues. Many people in Gazole, a Red bastion, did not vote in favour of LF on the issue of electricity. There are several villages where there is no supply of electricity. Rampant load shedding was one of the reasons. Corruption in public distribution system and ration card issue was also one of the reasons aside from other major issues”, said Mr Goutam Gupta, the district secretary of the RSP.

Mr Gupta also said: “We have been detached from people. We do not go to the people. When people come to us, we do not give them time. We have forgotten to work for the people belonging to the state”.

“We did not have a stronger base than Congress in two parliamentary seats. In North Malda, the CPI-M

had been facing factional feud. Many workers did not work properly for the CPI-M candidate in North Malda. Farmers in this district were scared about farm land acquisition. Party workers’ behaviour was rude”, said Mr. Tarun Das, district secretary, CPI.

“Minority people did not accept CPI-M in Lok Sabha election in North Malda. To form a stable government and to prevent the BJP from coming to power the minority people cast their votes for Congress candidate, a suitable one, directly”, said Mr Tajmul Hossain, Forward Bloc leader and MLA from Harishchandrapur.

“We did not expect such bad results in North Malda. Congress did not expect such surprising results here. Miss Mausam Noor had been able to reach voters belonging to new generation. There are several factors behind the debacle including disunity among us”, said Mr. Milan Das, district secretary, Socialist Party.

“We are going to review the poll results categorically. Perhaps, in Gazole, people did not like our man who were posted there for organizing election for us”, said Mr. Jiban Moitra, district convenor of LF.

It has been reported that modified ration dealers who had been depriving poor backward classes were on duty for conducting election in Gazole.

They only campaigned through their vehicles but could not persuade tribal people to cast their votes in favour of CPI-M candidate.

Demands galore await Mamata

In Malda, the Malda Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce (MMCC) has called an emergency executive committee meeting on Monday to draft an appeal to Miss Mamata Banerjee for the development of railway communications across the country from Malda town stations. “We will send our letter on Monday to Miss Mamata Banerjee after adopting a resolution in the executive council meeting. Our first demand is to run Rajdhani Express via Malda town station thrice a week which is at present running via Katihar in Bihar”, said Mr Jayanta Kundu, district secretary of the MMCC. “Secondly, we will demand a train which will pass through Malda town station and passengers from this station will be able to go to Mumbai directly,” he added. ; SNS

Row over fee hike spirals

MALDA, 21 MAY: The district inspector of school (secondary) will take stern action against the managing committees and head of the institutions if they do not return excess fees to the students, which have been collected from them violating a government order.

“More than 80 per cent of schools and madrassas have collected excessive admission fees from the students violating government direction in this district. A few members’ elected body cannot adopt a resolution to collect excess admission fees from the students ignoring the government's education policy. Such managing committee's decisions go against the state's education policy,” said Mr Chinmay Sarkar, the district inspector of school (secondary). It may be noted that the government has directed to take admission fees of Rs 63 from each student in the rural belt and Rs 78 from each one in the urban belt. But the school authorities have been demanding sums of Rs 200 to Rs 250 from each student.

Recently, students and guardians backed by various students’ organisations started a movement across the district and lodged complaints with the DI of schools. In many places students locked up schools, confined teachers within schools, blocked roads and beat up teachers on this issue.

“We have issued an order to all school and madrassa authorities not to take excess admission fees violating the government's instructions and asked some alleged school authorities to return the excess amount to the students. If they do not return the excess money received within one month and students lodge further complaints against the school, necessary steps would be taken,” said Mr Sarkar. “If school authorities continue to claim excess tuition fees, we shall report to the board against the headmaster of that school, and will suggest to dissolve the managing committee from where the complaint has been lodged,” Mr Sarkar said.

According to him, the state government's policy is to provide education to children free of cost. The Backward Class Welfare (BCW) department is providing Rs 250 for buying books for SC and ST students every year. Each student (belonging to general and backward classes) is getting Rs 250 for the buying of books every year from the Sarba Shiksha Mission's funds. For this reason, the managing committee or headmaster cannot charge excess admission fees from the students in the name of development funds for the school. ;SNS

Anti-erosion steps to protect Indo-Bangla border fencing

MALDA, 21 MAY: The irrigation department in Malda has finally decided to take up permanent anti-erosion measures at Khutadaha and Bat-tali in Bamongola on the bank of the river Punarbhaba for the protection of fencing along the India-Bangladesh border.

A total of Rs 12 crore has been allotted for the anti-erosion work on the bank of the Punarbhaba, according to the executive engineer of the irrigation department Mr Soumen Misra. Following the request of the Border Security Force the district administration decided to take an initiative to save the remaining part of the fence in that area, and took up the ‘temporary’ nature of the current anti-erosion work with the help of irrigation department.

“We have planned to float a tender for Punarbhaba anti-erosion work before Puja, and we would be able to begin anti-erosion work on a permanent basis from November at Khutadaha and Battali covering a two km stretch, separately. We also need to take up temporary measures to stem the erosion at vulnerable spots along the India-Bangladesh border during monsoon this year to save the existing fencing,” said Mr Misra. ;SNS

CPI-M, Cong yet to announce candidates for ward 11 by-poll

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 21 MAY: After the debacle of losing two Malda Lok Sabha seats, the CPI-M will contest against the Congress again in a by-poll of ward no 11 in English Bazaar Municipality (EBM) on 28 June.

It may be noted that the South Malda MP Mr AH Khan Choudhury had got a 767 leading margin in terms of votes from ward no 11 over his nearest CPI-M candidate Dr Abdur Rzaaque in the Parliamentary election. Neither the CPI-M and the Congress have finalised the name of their candidates to be fielded in ward no 11.

After the murder of Biswanath Guho, councillor of ward no 11, no by-polls were conducted over the last year. Guho was the vice-chairman of the EBM and he was also district president of the Intuc. At present, the Congress leaders are facing difficulties in choosing a candidate out of 16 applicants including the family members of Guho.

The town Congress president has received two applications from Guho's family including his daughter.

The English Bazaar MLA, Mr Krishnendu Choudhury, who is in Delhi today, said over the phone:

“We shall nominate one candidate out of 16 contenders shortly. But we are not in a position to nominate a family member of Guho”.

The CPI-M leader in English Bazaar town, Mr Indrajit Gupta, said: “Mr Shymal Chakraborty has come to Malda to review the post poll situation. Within a few days we

will announce the name of our candidate to contest from ward no 11”.

“The Congress candidate for South Malda LS seat bagged more votes from two minority people dominated polling stations in ward no 11. In this election minority people had decided to vote for the Congress for security reasons, preventing the BJP from forming the Central government,” Mr Mitra said.

Malda Cong divided on miniserial berth issue?

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 19 MAY: Controversy seems to have become a constant companion of the Congress in Malda. First, there was the issue over candidature, and now the debate over ministerial berths.

The common demand in the district is for at least one ministerial berth, but the choice of candidate is divided. While one section wants Miss Mausam Noor of North Malda in the UPA ministry, another desires Mr AH Khan Choudhury of South Malda.

Several representations on the subject have been faxed to the AICC, in support of both Miss Noor and Mr Khan Choudhury.

A group of general secretaries of the Malda Congress, including the chief election agent of the South Malda MP, is trying hard to project Mr AH Khan Choudhury.

They even went to the extent of urging the media to support a berth for Mr Khan Choudhury.

Other senior Congress leaders ~ notably Mr Mostaque Alam, Mr Hassan Ali Shah and Mr Ashraful Biswas ~ said they were seeking a ministerial berth for Mr AH Khan Choudury as a successor to ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury.

They suspect that if Miss Noor is accorded a ministerial berth she would have to play second fiddle in the ministry. “We do not want window dressing for Malda, we want an effective person as minister,” the leaders said.

The issue has effected a division in the Chhatra Parishad too, with one group faxing an appeal to Delhi yesterday demanding a ministerial berth for Miss Noor.

Besides the CP, there is much popular demand for Miss Noor's inclusion in the ministry.

“She is young, educated and from the minority community. She is ideal ministerial material,” said one Malda resident.

Murder case accused taken to court sans police escort

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 19 MAY : The Malda jail authorities today brought an under-trial in a murder case from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Darjeeling district without police escort and produced him to the fifth fast track court in Malda with the help of jail guards ~ violating government instruction.

“To abide by the court order we had to take this ‘risk'. We had not been able to produce that under-trial in the court on the last two dates proposed, due to non-availability of police escort,” said Mr CR Gharia, superintendent of the jail. Malda Court had issued a show cause notice to the superintendent of Malda when he failed on two occasions to produce the accused in court, as the under-trial was undergoing treatment at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

Finally, the court asked the jail authorities to produce the accused on 19 May and the jail authorities brought the under-trial, Mr Chinmay Basu ~ an accused in connection with a murder case ~ by engaging jail guards due to the non-availability of police personnel in the district, despite several reminders to the police department seeking police escort.

The jail super had also been show caused by Alipurduar Court in Jalpaiguri when he failed to produce another accused in time, who was arrested in connection with a KLO link and lodged in Malda Jail ~ again due to non-availability of police escort.

Again, to comply with the court's order the Malda jail authorities have finally decided to produce the accused in connection with KLO activities on 21 May in Alipurduar court without police escort.

Though the superintendent of Malda Jail sought police escort from the Jalpaiguri and Malda police, due to the elections, no police escort was available. “We generally provide police escort to the jail authorities based on their requirements and the availability of the police force. However, it is the responsibility of the jail authorities to produce the accused in court,” said Mr KL Tamta, IG North Bengal.

CPI-M mourn bad results

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 18 MAY: The district CPI-M leaders are disappointed after reviewing polling station-wise, given the ‘bad results’ of their party candidates in each Assembly segment of Malda district, compared with previous records.

In English Bazaar town the CPI-M candidate Dr Abdur Razzaque has obtained a leading margin only from one ward out of 25. Only the ward no 24, a Red bastion, has been able to show a leading margin but it could not retain the previous records.

In English Bazaar Assembly segment under the South Malda Parliamentary constituency, the Congress candidate Mr AH Khan Choudhury has obtained 78,591 votes and the CPI-M candidate Dr Abdur Razzaque got 54,990 votes. The CPI-M leaders detected that the Congress candidate Mr AH Khan Choudhury bagged a leading margin of nearly 20,000 from English Bazaar town out of 23,601 margin of votes recorded in English Bazaar Assembly segments. After the debacle the CPI-M cadres have reported to senior leaders that due to forcible collection of subscriptions from members of various CPI-M and LF backed associations in various sectors including teachers (secondary and primary) and government employees (to meet election expenses) was one reason why people were being frustrated and did not cast vote in favour of the CPI-M candidates here. A large section of people belonging to non-government sectors including daily wage earners have gone against the state government due to the announcement of 30 per cent increment of the salaries of government and semi-government employees just before election. The majority of people belonging to the working group in other sectors did not get any financial benefit from the government before the elections.

A large section of contractors in the electricity department in Malda belonging to the CPI-M's association were inactive due to the forcible collection of subscription from them by a few leaders of the Citu. They also alleged that the Citu leaders did not deposit the exact amount of collected money to the party. The people belonging to the Above the Poverty Line group were sentimental and went against the state government's decision to provide materials only to the people belonging to Below the Poverty line through public distribution system just before elections.

The government did not have a policy for APL people and did not provide sugar at a subsidized rate. The APL people get only kerosene from the PDS.

Except Habibpur Assembly constituency, the CPI-M candidates did not get leading margin from the Assembly segments from where the CPI-M and FB MLA were elected in Malda district. They are Harishchandrapur, Ratua, Old Malda, Gazole, Kaliachak, Manikchak Assembly segments.

Self introspection?

RAIGANJ , 18 MAY: The leaders of the Left Front in North Dinajpur are concerned as the CPI-M candidate of Raiganj Parliamentary seat Mr Bireswar Lahiri was defeated by Congress candidate Mrs Deepa Das Munsi by a huge margin from previously Left-dominated Assembly segments like Islampur, Karandighi , Chakulia and Kaliyaganj. A section of CPI-M leaders believe that the majority of minority voters did not cast their votes for the CPI-M.

One of the members of the CPI-M district committee Mr Anirudhdha Bhowmick said: "This year the majority of minority voters of all seven Assembly segments did not cast their votes for the CPI-M.

Very soon we will have a Left

Front meeting at the district level where our demerits will be discussed and the reason for defeat traced." SNS

Anti-incumbency

SILIGURI, 18 MAY: The Darjeeling district Left Front appears satisfied with the poll results in the four Assembly segments in the plains of the Darjeeling Parliamentary constituency. “The Front has done reasonably well in these segments - the ferocity of the anti-incumbency torrent notwithstanding,” the district Left leaders claimed. The CPI-M state committee member and the Left candidate for the high voltage constituency, Mr Jibesh Sarkar, said that the Front had garnered nearly half of the votes cast in the four Assembly segments. “This is a creditable achievement when juxtaposed with the stridency of the anti-incumbency undercurrent sweeping across the state,” he said. The FB district secretary Mr Smritish Bhattacharya said that the Front would have fared better in the plains had the CPI-M reached out to the people. SNS

FB leader killed in poll violence

MALDA, 18 MAY: A Forward Bloc leader Arabinda Mandal (37) was killed in a post poll result clash at Chari-Anantapur village under Baishnabnagar police station yesterday. The FB has held the Congress responsible for the crime.

Post poll result clashes have broken out at three different places in Malda since yesterday. Violence began yesterday at Chari-Anantapur between supporters of the Left and the Congress. According to the police, Arabinda was struck on the head by a lump of rock and died. According to the Malda SP Mr Satyajit Bandyopadhyay, police raided the village but could not arrest the culprits as the attackers fled their homes.

The FB district general secretary Mr Ajit Saha said: “About 20 Congress supporters attacked our supporters and injured Arabinda. They continued striking him after he fell down, so killing him. The FB would organise a protest rally at Chari-Anantapur on Thursday and demand the arrest of the culprits.”

In another incident, more than five persons were injured in a clash between Congress and CPI-M supporters at Dahapara. ;SNS

Cong sweeps away red bastions

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 17 May: The traditional red bastion of Gazole Assembly segment in North Malda parliamentary seat is suffering from a huge setback as heavyweight CPI-M candidate Mr Sailen Sarkar was defeated by the Congress candidate Miss Mausam Noor.

The party leaders condemned the people as having "silently betrayed Mr Sarkar". The party has decided find out the cause of the ‘surprising’ result in the Assembly segment, where Miss Noor bagged 64,308 votes. Mr Sarkar obtained 61,335 votes, though the CPI-M had set a target of a leading margin of at least 25,000 votes.

According to CPI-M party sources, records show that in 1967 and '69 the CPI-M had suffered similar setbacks.

In Habibpur Assembly segment, another former red citadel, Mr Sarkar bagged only 5,556 votes. Besides Habibpur, Mr Sarkar failed to obtain a leading margin at six other Assembly segments. Even in Ratua Assembly segment, from where Mr Sarkar was elected twice as MLA and became minister for the state government, Miss Noor obtained 73, 320 votes, while Mr Sarkar, minister for state parliamentary affairs and environment, won only 57, 503 votes.

In Harishchandrapur, Chanchal and Ratua, where more than 65 to 67 per cent people belong to the minority community, Miss Noor was able to obtain a greater margin than her nearest CPI-M candidate.

Mr Ambar Mitra, the chief election agent of Mr Sarkar, could not explain the reason behind such 'surprising' results.

It was expected that the Malda MP and Congress contesting candidate Mr AH Khan Choudhury would win from the South Malda parliamentary seat but Congress workers had not predicted the extent of his leading margin, at 1,36,280 votes.

The CPI-M candidate Dr Abdur Razzaque bagged only 3,07,097 votes in total.

Family rece on for ministerial berth

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 17 MAY : Speculation runs deep in Malda as to whether MP Miss Mausam Noor from North Malda or Mr AH Khan Choudhury from South Malda will receive the ministerial berth. Two more MPs are also in the race - Mrs Deepa Das Munshi from Raiganj in North Dinajpur and Mr Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Berhampur in Murshidabad.

In considering his relatives for the post, the Malda Congress is naturally recalling the late ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, who had been Union minister from 1980.

Before general elections, the All India Congress Committee observer Mr Intekhab Alam told media persons in a Press conference that Mr AH Khan Choudhury expected to win and become minister here.

Another group of Congress leaders are discussing Miss Mausam Noor's prospects for induction into the cabinet, pointing out that she is a young MP belonging to the minority community.

However, to avoid any family controversy between Miss Noor and her uncle Mr AH Khan Choudhury over the decision, district Congress leaders are not discussing the issue officially.

Security stepped up for peace after vote count

MALDA, 15 May: The Malda police administration has decided to step up vigilance in some sensitive areas, particularly around the North Malda Lok Sabha seat to avoid post-counting violence.

“We have identified some sensitive areas across the district which might suffer from post-counting violence and so have decided to step up vigilance in those areas from tomorrow,” said the Malda SP Mr Satyjit Bandyopadhyay. “Some areas in Ratua, Chanchal, Harishchandrapur blocks in North Malda are vulnerable. I will hold a teleconference with the inspector in-charge and officer in-charge of all police stations this evening and alert them to the requirements,” the SP added.

Anti-cataract programme to be re-launched

MALDA, 15 May : The district health department has plans to re-launch a programme in the first week of June introducing eye screening camps across the district to counteract cataract.

The objective of the programme is to identify local people suffering from cataract and eradicate the disease, through operations in base camps introduced at various locations in the district by the health department.

Last year, doctors had covered patients from 40 gram panchayats. According to deputy CMOH II Dr Halder, the district health department had set up base camps in Chanchal-I, Bamongola, Habibpur, Manikchak and Kaliachak-III blocks.

The programme was suspended for some time, but plans are being made for a re-launch, with an objective to cover the remaining 106 gram panchayats out of the total 146 in this district. The plans have been submitted to the chief medical officer of health for approval.

The health department would set up and organise the camps, enlisting the help of paramedical staff to identify and register persons suffering from cataract.

“After the identification of sufferers, they will be approached and offered treatment in the base camps where doctors will examine the problem and take necessary steps,” said Dr D Haldar.

An average of three to four per cent of people in Malda district are suffering from cataract. ; sns

Now, speculations begin...

Statesman News Service

MALDA, May 14: Speculation runs deep in the North and South Malda constituencies over the possible winners. With a day left until election results, anticipation is high among the supporters of the various political parties.

Going by the people's choice, Miss Mausam Noor of the Congress seems to be the favourite from the North Malda seat, although the Left disagrees. “By our estimate, Mr Sailen Sarkar of the CPI-M should win the North Malda seat by at least 15,000 votes,” claimed Mr Ambar Mitra, CPI-M district secretariat member. Mr Mitra, who is also Mr Sarkar's election agent, added: “We may lose the South Malda seat but the margin would come down from that of the last elections.”

The Congress camp is upbeat about Miss Noor. “The CPI-M's calculations regarding North Malda will not come true as the people of the constituency have cast votes in favour of Miss Mausam Noor. It is expected that she would win the seat by a margin of one lakh votes or more,” claimed Mr Sanjib Chakraborty, a resident of English Bazaar town.

The CPI-M's calculations are different. They feel that Miss Noor would lead in five Assembly segments of North Malda, but the red bastions of Gazole and Habibpur would ultimately give the CPI-M the advantage. The CPI-M also believes that the Congress candidate from South Malda Mr AH Khan Choudhury would lead at Mothabari and Manikchak Assembly segments of the Lok Sabha seat, but that the CPI-M candidate Dr Abdur Razaaque would make up for the loss at English Bazaar, Farakka and Samserganj - the last two segments being in Murshidabad district.

Though the English Bazaar Congress MLA Mr Krishnendu Choudhury and others said that Mr Khan Choudhury would win the seat by over 40,000 votes, the CPI-M claim that Mr Khan Choudhury would face a tough fight, as the BJP would secure a certain percentage of votes in both constituencies.

Observers to keep closer tabs on counting process

MALDA, May 14: Following the new counting process formulated by the Election Commission, the round wise announcement of results for Lok Sabha polls will be delayed sometimes, the Malda district magistrate Mr Sridhar Ghosh said today.

The district election officials under the leadership of the returning officer (RO) will announce round wise results of polls, after receiving consent from the Central observer. According to the district magistrate Mr Sridhar Ghosh, lots of additional counting observers have been appointed who will keep records of counting separately in each table, where the district election officials will count polled votes recorded in EVMs. There will be more than 14 counting tables for each Assembly segment. Each table will count one EVM. First round results will be finalized after adding all first round results of seven Assembly constituencies for one parliamentary seat. The micro-observers will liase between the additional counting observers and Central observers.

The Central observers will recount any two EVMs out of 14 to verify the results counted by the election officials under the leadership of the RO. After ascertaining the correctness of the counting by the general election officials, the Central observers will give the nod to the RO for the announcement of results. The observers will re-examine the counting process in each round and will give the nod to the RO for the declarations of round wise results. The district magistrate Mr Ghosh said that preparations have been completed with full security arrangements. The counting for North and South Malda seats will be held at Malda Polytechnic and Malda College respectively.

Report on crop loss yet to be submitted

MALDA, May 13: Though the Malda district magistrate, Mr Sridhar Ghosh, had asked the principal agriculture officer (PAO) to submit a detailed report on the estimated loss of crops due to the recent drought and storms in the region, the report is yet to prepared.

The principal agriculture officer in Malda, Mr Ranjit Kumar Das, said: “The Malda sub-divisional officer (agriculture) had been asked to prepare a detailed report and estimate the loss in agriculture due to the recent natural calamities. He is currently working over the report. It would take time to prepare it, after the field study is completed.” “We had faced a drought due to lack of rain that had damaged the Boro crop in the Barind belt in Malda. But in Chanchal sub-division, in the northern part of Malda, there has been no such adverse reports. The storm which lashed Malda a few days ago did not affect the agricultural sector. We had submitted a preliminary report to this effect to the district magistrate,” Mr Das said. However, the district horticulture department had estimated a loss of more than Rs 14 crore in mango cultivation due to the storm in the first week of May, and mango cultivation had been further effected by the heavy rains and storm last night. “The horticulture department will soon be able to report the estimated loss in mango cultivation, due to the storms in this district,” he added. According to the agriculture department, the district received 2.6 mm rainfall on 12 May and an average of 30.6 mm rainfall on 13 May. The English Bazaar block has received 25.3 mm rainfall since last night. The temperature has fallen from 41 degrees C to 32 degrees C today. According to the PAO, Mr Das, the district received an average of 140 mm rainfall from January to May, but this year the district had not received adequate rain. At present, the shortfall of rain is more than 90 mm. “We have received applications from the farmers, where their Boro paddy cultivation had been affected due to lack of rain and proper irrigation. We need to verify the ‘complaints’ on the spot,” Mr Das argued. n SNS

Students’ body stir against assault

Statesman News Service

MALDA, May 13: Protesting against the alleged assault on students of All India Democratic Students’ Organisation and All India Students’ Association by Congress supporters, members of the organisations brought out a rally at Gazole today. The student organisations had been agitating against the admission fee hike imposed by the Hazi Naku Mohd Uchcho Vidyalaya authority at Gazole when the incident occured.

Two AIDSO student leaders, Mr Bhabesh Mandal and Mr Ranjit Roy, were injured in the attack and admitted to Gazole Hospital.

The agitation had begun on Monday with AISA supporters blocking the state highway for over two hours at Bidrohi More demanding a rollback of the hiked fee. A meeting on the issue was fixed today, but the situation became worse, with news spreading that a group of students had attacked the headmaster of the Hazi Naku Mohd Uchcho Vidyalaya.

“The Congress leaders mobilised a group of people to spread the rumour and, under its pretext, attacked the agitating student leaders of the AISA and AIDSO,” alleged the CPI-ML leader, Mr Mrityunjay Das.

The Congress leadership has denied the allegation against its supporters. “It is true that a section of the agitators had attacked the headmaster of the Hazi Naku Mohd Uchcho Vidyalaya, Mr Kali Sadhan Roy. They were resisted by students of the school and fled. However, no Congress supporter is involved in the hostilities,” claimed Malda district Congress vice-president Mr Masadur Rahaman.

Malda farmers to attend inter-state agricultural fair

Statesman News Service

MALDA, May 12: A team of 12 people have been selected from Malda district to take part in the Inter State Agriculture and Horticulture Fair (Sangam), 2009 at Pragati Maidan in Delhi this month.

The fair, organised by the National Horticulture Board (NHB), will take place from 22 to 24 May. A few months ago, officials of the NHB came to Malda and selected 12 people related to the mango business. The district horticulture department is now training them for paticipating in the fair.

The National Horticulture Board will bear travel costs and other expenses for the farmers, who have been selected from Sujapur in Kaliachak and Amrity in English Bazaar. A few entrepreneurs involved in the production of mango and litchi byproducts have also been selected to take part in the fair.

The objective of this fair is to ‘promote and develop taste preference in fruits and vegetables,’ in the domestic market and abroad and to create awareness among farmers and producers through interaction at the fair.

The district mango development officer, Mr SN Khara, said: “Farmers will not be able to present mature mango in the fair because it takes place too early for Malda's mango season. But we have decided that farmers will present Lakshmanbhog and Golapkhas mango at the fair.”

“The farmers will be able to present the local variety of litchi, called guthi. Another popular litchi variety, Bombai, will unfortunately still be immature on 22 May,” he said.

Silk reeling centres to get motors , deterring child labour

Statesman News Service
MALDA, May 11: To stop the recruitment of child workers in silk reeling centres, the sericulture department has decided to provide motors to small traders who run silk reeling and spinning units and manually engage child workers in the Kaliachak block of Malda district.

“We noticed that most of the small traders engage child workers to manufacture silk yarn. We set up 10 motors in different reeling centres last year as an experiment and the response was positive from the small traders”, claimed the deputy director, sericulture department in Malda, Mr. Subrata Das.

“This year we have a target to provide 100 motors to the small traders who manufacture silk yarn at a subsidized rate. The beneficiaries would have to pay Rs. 2,500 for the motors and the department would bear the rest of the cost for setting up the motors. Each installation would cost around Rs. 10,000”, Mr. Das added.

The department has also planned to build separate rearing houses for the production of silk cocoons. The project cost of each separate rearing house is Rs. 50,000. The farmers would have to pay labour costs of Rs. 25,000 and the state government would finance the remaining cost.

According to Mr. Das, 435 families have been selected for the project in the district. Most small farmers rear silkworm in their dwellings in unhygienic conditions. The objective of the project is to separate the rearing houses from the swellings to save the silkworm from various diseases.

The department has further decided to change its police of providing financials assistance for setting up big spinning and reeling centres in the district due to the labour crisis. The projects estimating Rs.10 to 12 lakh have been identified as sick units.

“The local labourers prefer to go out of the state for better remuneration and local entrepreneurs do not get sufficient workers to run the spinning and reeling units. We want to set op small spinning and reeling units for manufacturing silk yarn where seri-farmers’ family members would themselves work and beat the scarcity of labour problem”, the officials said. (END)

PHE survey reveals district-wide drop in underground water level

Statesman News Service

MALDA, May 11: The public health engineering department in Malda has completed a survey to discover the present position of the underground water level across the district during dry spells.

The objective of this survey is to ensure that hand pump tube wells are sunk in the future, in consideration of the water level in dry spells, in order to meet drinking water crises.

Due to continuing dry spells, many tube wells have become defunct across the district, including in municipal areas. Though the district had received rain eight days ago, the situation remains unchanged due to the heat wave over the last six days.

“In almost all wards, residents are facing a water crisis. We are setting up hand pump tube wells to help people facing acute water crises,” said Mr Dulal Sarkar, vice-chairman of the English Bazaar Municipality.

PHE's survey revealed that the water level has gone down at least 20 ft below the normal level in all blocks.

According to the survey report, the normal underground water level was previously 50 ft in Bamongola block area, but at present its level is measured at 70 ft.

In Gazole, where the underground water level is usually 48 ft in depth, at present the level has gone down to 69 ft.

Similarly, residents of Habibpur are collecting waters from 56 ft underground, where the normal level is 40 ft.

On the bank of the river Mahananda, the situation of Old Malda block has also worsened, with the underground water level dropping from 28 ft to 58 ft.

In Harishchandrapur-I and II blocks, the normal water level is 23 and 30 ft but at present the underground water level is 35 and 50 ft respectively.

In Chanchal-I and II blocks the normal water level is 32 and 30 ft respectively, which has dropped to 54 and 52 ft due to the lack of rain.

In Ratua-I and II blocks, the PHE has recorded the present level of underground water as 50 and 60 ft in depth, where underground water is normally available within 25 and 35 ft in the respective blocks.

“We have sent the detailed report to the higher authorities of the PHE. We expect that a fresh order will come for the re-sinking of tube wells which have become defunct,” said Mr Swapan Maitra, executive engineer, PHE, Malda.

Communal tension persists in Gazole

Statesman News Service

MALDA, May 10: Tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities continued in Gazole and Ratua block areas, despite police patrolling and promulgation of Section 144 of the CrPC.

Long-brewing communal tension had been sparked off recently when a Hindu marriage procession had passed a mosque in Gazole, prompting a group of Muslims to complain about the noise. Antagonism was heightened last Friday, leading to a scuffle at a Hindu temple in Gazole during Friday prayers.

The Malda SP Mr Satyajit Bandyopadhyay today held a meeting with the political parties at Gazole police station to restore normalcy there. It was decided that all political leaders would visit the area tomorrow.

Police have arrested nine persons from both communities since Friday night in connection with rioting, provocation, and attacking police. However, political leaders alleged that police have not arrested the ringleaders who had provoked communal tension by forming small armed groups and attempting to attack other groups. Police did not disclose information concerning any specific communal encounter since the scuffle on Friday.

Malda police have already set up police camps in the region and the rapid action force (RAF) is patrolling 24 hours. During the meeting, the political parties have demanded the setting up of one more police camp in the area.

The Malda district magistrate Mr Sridhar Ghosh has instructed all block development officers to remain in station and urged the political leaders to prevent people from creating further trouble.

Malda district administration yesterday promulgated Section 144 CrPC in 10 moujas of Gazole and Ratua blocks, banning groups of more than four from congregating in public places. The Malda sub-divisional officer Mr Prakash Pal said: “The prohibitory order will continue until normalcy is restored. Police picketing and patrolling in the sensitive areas will continue until further orders.”

In the most sensitive areas, people are staying home, markets remain closed, and shops are shut in the evenings. Farmers, frightened to leave their homes, are facing problems in harvesting their Boro paddy cultivation on the banks of the Srimati and Mahananda rivers here. Boro paddy is cultivated on hundreds of acres of land here on either side of National Highway-81.

It may be noted that tribals had once been in control of several of the temples in Ratua and Gazole, during a period marked by peaceful coexistence between the Hindus and Muslims. Now there are very few tribals remaining in the two blocks. In Gazole, the majority of temples are currently controlled by persons from Bangladesh.