Tarun plans film on Mayar Khela

4 December 2011

SILIGURI, 4 DEC: Film director Tarun Majumdar wants to make a film based on Mayar Khela, a dance-drama of Rabindranath  Tagore.
Majumdar said: “I have been planning to make a film based on Mayar Khela. But I don’t know whether I will be able to fulfil this desire.” The film-maker was addressing a session on Rabindra Sangeet in Bengali Cinema, in memory of Bikash Ghosh, former mayor of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation yesterday. 
The former state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya, and other CPI-M leaders organised the programme, where singer Subhoprasad Nandi Majumdar enthralled the gathering with Rabindrasangeet used in Bengali films by Ritwik Ghatak and others. This apart,  Majumdar sang a few songs as a tribute to singer Bhupen Hazarika. 
Pointing out the contribution Tagore's songs in Bengali films, Majumdar said: “Pankaj Kumar Mallick contributed a lot as music director when a member of New Theaters, Bimal Roy took initiative to make a film named Udayer Pathe.” 
Besides Pankaj Mallick, Majumdar dwelt on the contributions of Ritwik Ghatak, Birendranath Sarkar, Pramathes Barua, Raichand Baral, Hemanta Mukherjee and others and said that those personalities won the heart of the people with Tagore's songs. According to him, he had faced a lot of problems to use Tagore's songs in his film initially, but he was self-assured when he made a comeback with Alo, a film based on a story written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. sns

Rebel ABAVP leaders hold meeting with Gurung

4 December 2011

statesman news service 
SILIGURI, 4 DEC: Despite being cautioned by  the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP) state leadership, rebel leaders, Mr John Barla and Mr Sukra Munda, today held a meeting with Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha president, Mr Bimal Gurung, at Kumai in Kalimpong sub-division.
Mr Gurung and party secretary, Mr Roshan Giri and two ABAVP leaders and their followers adopted a resolution that they would start a joint campaign in the Dooars in favour of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and they would explain the importance about formation of the Gorkhaland and Adivasi Territorial Administration (GATA) among the people.
The GJMM media secretary, Mr Harka Bahadur Chhetri, said: “The GJMM and ABAVP would jointly organise programmes in the Dooars. The objective is to explain the importance of the GATA to the people of the Dooars.” “Adivasi and Gorkha people would organise two joint programmes on 6 and 10 December in the 
Dooars. The venue is yet to be decided,” Mr Chhetri said. 
Commenting on the development, the ABAVP state president, Mr Birsa Tirkey, said: “I have heard that the tea workers’ unions backed by the GJMM and the ABAVP would organise joint programme in favour of the GATA. The ABAVP-backed Progressive Tea Workers’ Union does not have right to organise such political programmes.” 
“Mr Sukra Munda, selected chairman of the PTWU, cannot make any agreement with any political party or any general association out of the jurisdiction of the tea plantation,” he said.
It may be noted that five rebel ABAVP leaders were showcaused for signing a pact with the GJMM with a view to forming the GATA and transferring lands from the Dooars to the GTA.
Out of five, two of them have been acquitted in the ABAVP’s state committee meeting held in Kolkata on 26 November.
The ABAVP executive committee members will determine the fate of the three rebel leaders Mr John Barla, Terai Dooars regional president, Mr Tejkumar Toppo, general secretary and Sukra Munda, PTWU chairman. Mr Barla was stripped of his power. According to Mr Tirkey, the executive committee members would furnish their opinion on the rebel leaders at a meeting to be held in Kolkata on 15 December. The final decision would be taken on 17 December.

Satellite zoo for Kurseong

Satellite zoo for Kurseong

4 December 2011

DARJEELING, 4 DEC: The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park plans to inaugurate a satellite zoo and India's second pheasant breeding centre in Kurseong's Dowhill area on 7 December.
The breeding centre “will work on increasing the number of endangered pheasants like the Satyr tragopan and the Temminck's tragopan”, zoo director Mr AK Jha said. India's only other pheasant breeding centre is in Himachal Pradesh, he said. The World Pheasant Association in July sent six pheasants from the UK's Paradise Wildlife Park for the centre. “A meeting is being scheduled on 14 Decemebr when they will ask for more from the UK-based World Pheasant Association”, Mr Jha said. The association has donated two Satyr tragopan and four Temminck's tragopan. The former species can be found in Darjeeling and Sikkim, while the latter can be found in Meghalaya and Nagaland. Both are endangered. sns

GJMM youth wing plans fresh statehood stir in Dec

GJMM youth wing plans fresh statehood stir in Dec

22 November 2011

statesman news service

DARJEELING 23 NOV: The tell-tale signs emanating from the GJMM camp that the party has been contemplating a renewed stir over Gorkhaland have become pronounced today as the preponderant party’s youth affiliate, Gorkha Jana Mukti Yuva Morcha  has decided to launch statehood stir in December. 

Addressing a Press conference here today, the GJMYM vice-president, Mr Priyabardan Rai, said that they would organise a public meeting at Mongpoo in Kalimpong sub-division on 18 December. “We would give the clarion call for Gorkhaland at the meeting which would be addressed by the party president, Mr Bimal Gurung,” he said.  

Referring to the recent development in Uttar Pradesh, the GJMM youth leader said that the UP chief minister’s stance on the four-way division of her state to facilitate better administration and development had buoyed them into going for the statehood-stir. “Our demand for carving out a separate Gorkhaland state is the oldest in the country. Yet, the demand remains far from fulfilled despite the century-old agitation. We would ask the Centre to explain why are we being discriminated against,” he said.

He said they would write to the President, the Prime Minister, the Union home minister and the state chief minister soon, asking them to consider their statehood demand.

When asked whether the renewed stir would militate against the spirit of the GTA agreement, Mr Rai said that the GTA draft had kept the demand on record. “We are not hostile to the agreement, but at the same time we would keep up the statehood momentum,” he said. 

`80 sustains generations!

`80 sustains generations!

22 November 2011

KURSEONG, 22 NOV: A washerman has been receiving Rs 80 as salary, the same amount his father received in post-Independence days. Mr Binda Baitha (66), a resident of Ujjarey Busty in Kurseong, gets Rs 80 as salary, which was earlier received by his father, Laxman Baitha, from the Castleton Tea estate in Kurseong. Mr Baitha said that during the British period his father used to work at the Castleton Tea estate in Kurseong. Later, he too got the same amount when he became an employee of the tea garden which was then owned by Mr Jayram and Mrs Dayarani. Even after the many decades Mr Baitha still receives Rs 80 a month as salary. He said: “I have asked the concerned officials several times to hike my salary but besides giving me assurances, they have not done anything.” sns

Sharing Teesta water detrimental for N Bengal: officials

Statesman news service 

SILIGURI, 17 NOV: The state irrigation and waterways officials, associated with Teesta Barrage Project (TBP) said sharing the Teesta water with Bangladesh would be detrimental to the interests of north Bengal.

Chief Minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee yesterday met Bangladesh foreign minister Dr Dipu Mani, and said a committee of riverine management experts would asses the amount of water required for the region.

The officials are mow worried after they calculated the volume rate of water flow from the Teesta River during the lean period.

A senior engineer of the TBP said: “If we do not share water with Bangladesh, it will not be possible for us to supply water for irrigation covering the entire target area of 3.42 lakh hectares of crop lands during pre-Kharip period from November to March and even during the Kharip period.”

Notably, the Central government has asked the state to prepare the project so that it can cover 3.42-lakh hectares of land by 2015. To cover the target areas the TBP needs 340 cumec. But, the TBP records show that the volume rate of water flow from the Teesta is 100 cumec during lean period from November to March.

The river discharges water 200 to 250 cumec during the Kharip season.

The project was conceived to supply water for Kharip crop in north Bengal and the TBP plans to provide waters for Boro cultivation on the basis of farmers’ demands.

Besides irrigation, the TBP project needs to supply 80 cumec to 200-cumec water to run three-hydel power projects, located on Mahananda main canal near Siliguri, for production of 67.5 mega watt electricity.

To manage the situation, the state electricity department has decided to suspend the production of its three projects alternatively for maintenance during the lean period.

 “Despite such practical problems the state irrigation department during the regime of the Left Front government had agreed to sacrifice and share 25 per cent of water with Bangladesh in the interest of maintaining international relation with neighbouring country,” said a senior state irrigation official.

“The water sharing problem between the two countries still stands for the period from November to March,” he added.

According to the TBP officials, the rate discharge of water from the river Teesta during peak monsoon period is 1500 cumec.

GJMM-ABAVP joint deputation on GATA

GJMM-ABAVP joint deputation on GATA

2 November 2011

statesman news service  

SILIGURI, 2 NOV: The representatives of both the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha and the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad would lead a joint delegation to the chairman of high powered committee, appointed by the state government for verification and inclusion of additional lands to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, to apprise the recent ‘political’ development and for inclusion of all other areas identified as reserved constituency for the Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe of the Dooars and the Terai region inhabited predominantly by Adivasis and Gorkhas.
The decision was taken at Mongpong on 29 October and a memorandum of 18-point agreement signed by both the GJMM president, Mr Bimal Gurung and Terai-Dooars based the ABAVP president, Mr John Barla.
The decision to apprise the high-powered committee was mentioned in the article [Article no. XVI] in the 18-point memorandum of agreement. In the preface of the agreement, it was mentioned: “ … the ABAVP on invitation from the GJMM for dialogue for securing the interest of the Adivasis, the Gorkhas and all others and also to foster speedy development of the region, the ABAVP after due consultation and discussions with their subordinate formations and block and unit level representatives decided to agree in incorporate 196 mouzas of the Dooars and 199 mouzas of Terai region into the proposed GTA.”
Both the GJMM and the ABAVP have agreed: “ The name of the GTA would be changed to GATA (herein after referred GATA for GTA) for inclusion of the 196 mouzas of the Dooars and 199 mouzas of the Terai into the GTA to incorporate the word ‘Adivasi’ for keeping the sentiments of majority people of the Dooars-Terai by way of adopting a resolution by the GTA sabha.” [Article no. I]
In article no. III of the memorandum of agreement, both the GJMM and ABAVP agreed: “A separate Dooars-Terai cell will be established within the GATA for speedy implementation of the projects in the Dooars-Terai region and addressing the grievances of the people of this region. This cell will be established within the Dooars-Terai as decided by the ABAVP and the GJMM.” 

PLUNGED TO DEATH Double whammy for Darjeeling

PLUNGED TO DEATH
Double whammy for Darjeeling

A BRIDGE collapse doesn’t bear comparison to an earthquake. However limited the scale of the tragedy, Darjeeling has suffered a double whammy in the span of a few weeks. With the casualty toll in the footbridge collapse across the Little Rangit river mounting to 32, the tragedy is no less heart-rending to the members of the bereaved families. Many more are battling grievous injuries in hospital, and the Chief Minister in course of her visit to the accident site has advanced a timely directive to the district administration, specifically to utilise the Rs 16-crore fund allotted recently to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. Yet it is a commentary on the decrepit state of public health that the state hospital’s CT scanner is defunct.
Well might the district administration be inclined to attribute the footbridge collapse to overenthusiastic visitors to the GJMM’s fair and cultural festival across the river. Any such event will draw crowds, more so in a district town. Implicit, therefore, is the failure of crowd management. The bridge was said to be sturdy enough to hold 20 people; alas, this was only a fraction of the 150 visitors who were jostling to cross over when it gave way. The victims fell into the Little Rangit; some may even have been swept away by its swirling current. Prima facie, it is the strategy of crowd management that failed in Darjeeling last Saturday.
It is pointless to claim in the manner of a block official that “things were fine during the day, but it seems the crowd was unmanageable in the evening”. The short point must be that any carnival ~ it is particularly colourful in the Hills ~ draws crowds in the evening. Was the police deployment adequate? Conceding that it was, it has palpably failed to restrict the numbers. It couldn’t have been unaware of the load capacity of the bridge. There obviously was no check as 150 people positioned themselves at 6.30 p.m. ~ in fading light. The military authorities have confirmed that it was too overcrowded to bear the weight of people. This administration is heir to years of neglect compounded by the near paralysis of governance in the Hills in recent times. While the collapse occurred in October 2011, it was scripted over years.

Editorial

The Statesman 

25 Oct 2011

Mamata visits injured patients, collapse toll rises to 32

Mamata visits injured patients, collapse toll rises to 32

23 October 2011
statesman news service
SILIGURI, 23 OCT: Chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee, during her visit to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) today, asked the authorities concerned to bear all medical expenses required for the injured patients admitted here.
A total of 19 patients, including five women and a 10-year-old boy, were admitted to NBMCH after a hanging foot-bridge collapsed at Bijanbari in Darjeeling yesterday evening. The incident has claimed 32 lives so far.  Of the 19 patients, Dipesh Mailani succumbed to his injuries at NBMCH, said medical superintendent Dr Saibal Gupta. According to Dr Gupta, two to three patients are in a critical condition and they require neurosurgery, which is not available at NBMCH.
Miss Banerjee, on her way to the Hills, met the injured and their relatives at NBMCH today and asked the hospital authorities to procure all medical assistance, which are not available here, from private health centres. She has also asked them to provide food and shelter for the relatives of the patients at NBMCH.
Miss Banerjee asked the authorities concerned to properly utilise the recently-allotted funds worth Rs 16 crore for NBMCH for better patient care services. Dr Gupta said: “We wanted to inform the chief minister about several problems, including the CT scan machine, which is still not functioning. But we could not tell her due to lack of time and overcrowding on the hospital premises.”
“In the absence of CT scan, we had to arrange for MRI, which is available here, for some critical patients and called specialists for required neurosurgery from outside. Two patients require neurosurgery but we do not have the facility here. We have decided to shift one critical patient to a private nursing home,” Dr Gupta said.
“A 10-year-old boy is under ‘conservation management’ at the medical college. We are yet to decide whether we should refer him to other medical institution,” he added.
The NBMCH authorities have made a separate arrangement to provide food and accommodation for relatives of the patients from today, following the chief minister’s instructions.

Owners disown pets

Owners disown pets

statesman news service
SILIGURI, 17 OCT: The fate of two German spitz (see sns photo) pet dogs is hanging in uncertainty. Reportedly, their owners drove them out of home. At present two sub-adult dogs, one of them seriously injured after a motorbike accident, are under the care of a group of animal lovers in Ward No. 14 under Siliguri Municipal Corporation since 13 October.
The injured dog, suffering from paralysis after the accident, is undergoing treatment. A veterinary doctor Mr Ruhul Amin is attending the two dogs in association with local animal lovers. According to a veterinary doctor, the injured dog would take at least one-and-half month to recover.
Though animal lovers have planned to rehabilitate the two ill-fated dogs by handing them over to some dog-lovers, who are interested to adopt them, they are facing different problems.
A senior member of an animal lovers’ association, Mr Shyama Choudhury said: “Some persons are interested to adopt the fit male German spitz but no one interested is to take responsibility of the injured dog. Interestingly, when we decided to hand healthy spitz over to others, we could not do so. It is not willing to go anywhere without his injured friend. So we have decided we would hand them over to someone who would adopt both of them”. The healthy dog was guarding the injured dog on roadside following the accident. Local councillor Ms Gouri Datta came to know about the matter and informed the local animal lovers' association. At present, a local lover, Mr Bhaben Barman is looking after the two dogs.
Mr Shyama Choudhury said: “Some parents buy puppies following their children’s requests but drive them out when they observe that children are spending more time with the pets ignoring their studies.”

Mamata asks N Bengal officials to handle things with velvet gloves

Mamata asks N Bengal officials to handle things with velvet gloves

13 October 2011

statesman news service
SILIGURI, 13 OCT: A seemingly worried chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee, today asked the administrative and police officials of both the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts to deal with the sensitive situation with utmost care and circumspection in view of the volatility prevailing over the GJMM demand for land from the Terai-Dooars region in reference to the territorial jurisdiction of the Gorkhaland Administrative Tribunal, an official said. 
It has been learnt that the chief minister held a meeting with the senior north Bengal-based civil and police officials, particularly with those from the two districts, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, on the law and order situation at the NHPC office premises on the outskirts of Siliguri.
“The chief minister looked a bit worried with both the GJMM and the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad doggedly clinging to their respective stances regarding the GTA land issue. She asked us all to ensure peace and inter-ethnic amity in view of the situation remaining volatile. She insisted that under no circumstances the administration would allow the peace to be disturbed,” said the senior administrative official.
It has also been learnt that the chief minister’s Dooars trip had failed to break the ice involving the relation between the Gorkhas and the Adivasis inhabiting the Terai-Dooars area for generations. “It seems that the chief minister has realised that the land issue would remain a bone of contention in time to come and the situation might take a turn for the worse any time in view of the mutual antipathy and suspicion prevailing,” the official said.
In order to fulfil her electoral commitment, Chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee will lay the foundation stone for the construction of 1,400 meters long Nayagram-Vasraghat bridge over the Subarnarekha river during her Junglemahal trip on Saturday. 
The project will require Rs 118.44 crore. The state irrigation department has also planned to set up a barrage on one side (upstream) of the bridge. Once the bridge is constructed, road connectivity among Nayagram, Gopiballavpur and people living in bordering Midnapore and Orissa will get an upgrade. It was a longstanding demand of the local people who travel almost 111 km to reach Kharagpur. If the bridge comes up, the distance will reduce by 69 km. The bridge will also improve the inter-state transport. 

Mamata refuses to meet Bharati Tamang

Mamata refuses to meet Bharati Tamang

11 October 2011

SILIGURI, 11 OCT: The chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee, refused to meet the All India Gorkha League president, Mrs Bharati Tamang, today despite several attempts by the leadership of the oldest Hill-based party. “I felt humiliated and it is difficult for me to express my feelings in words,” Mrs Tamang said.  
It has been learnt from AIGL leaders that Mrs Tamang sought an appointment with the chief minister today through the Darjeeling district magistrate, Mr Saumitra Mohan.
Notably, Mrs Tamang, the widow of the slain AIGL president, Madan Tamang, has been seeking an appointment with Miss Banerjee since she became the chief minister in May this year. “I have been trying tirelessly to meet the chief minister to seek justice for the daylight assassination of my husband. The CBI probe seems to have got stuck at a point perhaps owing to political intervention from the highest levels. I went to Kolkata around two months back and sought an appointment with the chief minister. But the same indifference befell me. But I am determined to carry on with my struggle for justice, come what may. I would not rest till the criminals involved in the murder are brought to justice,” she asserted.  
She said that the Darjeeling district magistrate had told her that the chief minister was too pre-occupied to talk to her. “Is this democracy? The chief minister has no time to talk to the president of the principal Opposition party in the Hills while staying in Darjeeling. This smacks of bad manners and the trend is dangerous for participatory democracy,” she said.  
Taking strong exception to the development, the senior CPI-M leader and Rajya Sabha MP from the Darjeeling Hills, Mr Saman Pathak, said that the present government’s undemocratic style of functioning had been exposed. “The ruthless face of the chief minister has emerged from the façade of democratic pretension. The refusal to meet the leader of the oldest political party in the Hills amounts to gagging the democratic voice of dissent. To appease a particular party while keeping the Opposition at bay would perpetuate anarchy in the politically restive Hills,” the Marxist leader said.  
Echoing the Marxist sentiment, a senior leader of the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists, Mr Taramoni Rai, said that the chief minister had been hobnobbing with those accused in the Madan Tamang murder case. sns

Mamata should visit plantations

‘Mamata should visit plantations’

11 October 2011

statesman news service
SILIGURI, 11 OCT: The veteran trade union leader associated with the coordination committee of tea plantations workers’ unions in north Bengal, Mr Chitta Dey, believes that chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee should travel around tea plantations to know the exact situation in the tea belt where the workers are being deprived of their legitimate claims.
Reacting to Miss Banerjee’s interaction with tea workers in plantations on her way to the Hills yesterday, Mr Dey said: “If she wants to know the real situation, she should conduct a survey to know the plight of thousands of tea workers. We can make arrangements for that.”
Mr Dey said the state government had not been able to hike tea workers’ wages despite several tripartite meetings held this year due to rigidity of planters.
“Though the state labour commissioner has called another tripartite meeting in Kolkata on 13 October, I don’t think the state would be able to persuade them to accept the demands of the trade unions,” Mr Dey said, adding, “the dialogue would put an end to the demand of hiking tea workers’ wages from Rs 67 to over Rs 90 a day from the first year.”
“The chief minister should know that a permanent worker in Darjeeling Hills is receiving Rs 90 a day. But the workers in the Terai and the Dooars are still receiving Rs 67. She should know how the Labour Act is being violated in the tea belt,” said Mr Dey.
“Tea planters have been claiming that they spend at least Rs 123 a day for a tea worker providing ration and other facilities. But in practice the planters are paying only Rs 89 for a permanent tea worker,” he added.
According to him, the food supplies are not fit for human consumption, system of rationing is irregular in many tea plantations, tea workers do not have pucca quarters in many tea plantations, they live under tarpaulin sheets, and over 54 per cent women workers suffer from several diseases, including gastro-enteritis due to lack of purified drinking water supply but there is no proper dispensary under the guidance of registered doctor in many tea plantations.
“Miss Banerjee should know that the planters have not yet recruited 5,000 more workers following an agreement signed in 1999 during the tenure of former chief minister late Jyoti Basu,” he added.
The Trinamul Congress-backed trade union AITTUC Jalpaiguri district president, Mr Joachim Buxla, who was also a former RSP leader and MP, said: “The chief minister has planned to visit this region to study the present situation and to bring overall development, including in the tea belt.”
“I think that tea workers’ wages would be settled through negotiation with planters. We demanded Rs 130 for a permanent tea worker a day. The matter would be finalised if the planters agree to pay at least Rs 92 for a permanent tea worker a day,” Mr Buxla said.

GJMM not happy with post-quake response

GJMM not happy with post-quake response

5 October 2011

manas ranjan banerjee
SILIGURI, 5 OCT: The GJMM leadership appear disappointed with the ‘enigmatic’ role being played by the Mamata Banerjee (in photo) government since the earthquake struck the Darjeeling Hills in the evening of 18 September. 
“The common people’s expectation from the new government seems to have dashed against the rock-walls of frustration. Save for verbosity, the state government has so far done nothing for the hapless people across the Hills whose houses were flattened or damaged during the trembler. The indifference to their plight has brought home the point that nothing has changed except the colour of the government,” said the GJMM spokesperson and Kalimpong MLA, Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri. 
He said that the level of frustration among the common people kept growing. “The situation may come to a pass when the foundation of goodwill on which the GTA is based might crumble to the ground. Our president, Mr Bimal Gurung (in photo), has echoed the collective frustration several times during the party meetings, saying that it would have been better to carry on with the statehood stir instead of having settled for the tripartite agreement,” the senior GJMM leader said.
“The Centre and the state government have been playing the game of passing the buck to each other instead of announcing assistance for the wretched people who have been grappling with the woes wrought by the quake. We are finding it difficult to explain the state government’s insensitivity to the common people. This is embarrassing to the point of being politically dangerous,” Dr Chhetri said.   
“The state government’s role has remained enigmatic since the calamity struck the Hills. The ministers kept streaming into the Hills and indulging in flamboyant assurances. Yet the net result is a big zero. The state has not taken up the matter with the Centre in earnest. It is proving difficult for us to differentiate the insensitive Marxists from those who have taken up the reins after assuring to provide a people’s friendly government,” the MLA said.

Minister seeks explanation for elephant’s death

5 October 2011

statesman news service
SILIGURI, 5 OCT: The state forest minister, Mr Hiten Barman, has asked the chief conservator of forest (wildlife), north Bengal, Mr Krishnamurti, to begin a probe into the death of an elephant that had been run over by a speeding train on last night, keeping in mind the lack of coordination between the joint monitoring team comprising the railways and forest officials.
Mr Barman today said that he suspected that there was lack of coordination between the railway and forest officials to monitor the movement of elephants when the train was entering the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary.
“I have asked the CCF, north Bengal, to immediately submit a report on the role of the monitoring committee. We need to know when the train started and whether the information was conveyed to the forest officials from the railway department or whether there was a communication gap between the two departments,” Mr Barman said.
A five-year-old female elephant was mowed down by a speeding train between Savoke and Gulma railway stations under Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary in Darjeeling district on the night of 3 October.
“We are planning to convene a meeting of the joint monitoring committee and review the situation,” Mr Barman said.
Mr Barman also affirmed that the Centre had allotted Rs 1.93 crore for the construction of a watchtower and lighting arrangement along the railway track, which cuts the elephant corridors in different wildlife sanctuaries. The fund is yet to transferred to the railway department, he said.
“The state forest department has received the allotted funds for the project and it has already informed the finance department to transfer the fund to railway department. The railway department would begin the 
work when the finance department hands the fund over to them,” he added.

Deepa threatens stir over AIIMS-type hospital

5 October 2011

statesman news service
RAIGANJ, 5 OCT: The Congress MP from Raiganj and state Congress secretary, Mrs Deepa Das Munshi, has threatened to launch a stir on the AIIMS issue across north Bengal after the Puja. 
“We would involve the people of the entire north Bengal in the movement. The stir would continue till the state government clears its stance vis-a-vis the proposed AIIMS-type health institution in Raiganj,” she said yesterday at her residence at Sri Colony in Kalyaganj. However, in the same breath, she said that if the chief minister 
invited them for discussion they would accept it. 
The Puja at the residence of the former Union minister, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, at Kalyaganj, has remained confined to the bare rituals for the past three years. “We cannot go for ostentation as the senior Congress leader is still ailing. The Puja has become a mere ritual bereft of the gaiety previously associated with it. We hope he returns soon and the Pujas would get back its colour,” she said. 
Mr Das Munshi fell seriously ill during the Puja in 2008 and since he has remained confined within the hospital precincts. Now he is being treated at a health facility in New Delhi. 
Mrs Das Munshi said that the super-speciality hospital on the lines of the Delhi-based AIIMS was a dream nurtured by the ailing Congress leader. “He went out of his way to clear the decks for the institution which almost turned into an obsession with him. After he fell ill the Centre took initiatives on the matter and the project was approved by the Union Cabinet at a meeting in 2009. Accordingly, the land for housing the proposed institution was earmarked. But things seem to have got stuck at this point. The previous Left Front government kept sleeping when it came to acquiring lands and, more unfortunately, the present government is doing nothing, except for confounding confusion by sending conflicting signals from time to time,” she said.  
The Congress launched a mass signature campaign recently involving all the six districts of north Bengal to press for their demand. 
“The mass movement would be the next phase of the agitation,” she said, adding they would respond positively in case the state government invites them for consultation on the subject.

Citu leader murder case: Main accused arrested from Chopra

5 October 2011

statesman news service
SILIGURI, 5 OCT: Two months after  the murder of a Citu leader, Raj Kumar Yadav, Pradhan Nagar police arrested the main accused, Sanjit Yadav, from Chopra in North Dinajpur early today.
Sanjit, a resident of Bihar, was produced before a court today. He was remanded in police custody for further interrogation.
A group of criminals attacked Raj Kumar Yadav and his relative Surender Yadav at Siliguri Regulated Market on the night of 30 July. Surender died on the spot while bullet-ridden Raj Kumar succumbed to his injuries on 1 August in a hospital.
Police, based on Raj Kumar’s final statement, arrested two persons after the incident. But the main accused fled the area after the incident.
Primary investigations revealed that Surender Yadav, also a resident of Bihar and accused of several criminal cases in Bihar, was murdered due to past enmity. Surender committed criminal activities in Bihar and took shelter with Raj Kumar Yadav in Siliguri, police said.
Protesting against the murder of the Citu leader, the Left Front-backed trade unions had observed a 12-hour general strike demanding arrest of the main accused.
The Darjeeling police contacted Bihar police and informed all police stations concerned in the state to track Sanjit. Though police had been able to trace his whereabouts in Bihar, adjoining areas in north Bengal and even in Kolkata, they decided to keep a close watch on his movement.
The Siliguri additional SP, Mr Amit P Javalgi, said: “We came to know that he was residing at Chopra. We strategically decided on our move that let him feel comfortable living here.”
“When he came to his relative’s house at Chopra in North Dinajpur last night around 10 p.m. police had planned to intercept him. He was arrested around 1 a.m. from his relative’s house where he had taken shelter,” Mr Javalgi said.
The CPI-M state committee member, Mr Jibesh Sarkar, said: “We have been demanding that police should arrest the main accused to know the mastermind behind the murder of the Citu leader. When police have been able to nab him now they should start investigation to ascertain the motive behind the murder.”
“We suspect that anti-Citu trade union organisers conspired to end his life just to take control of the regulated market in Siliguri where Raj Kumar Yadav headed the trade union,” Mr Sarkar said.

HC rap for Centre, state over Hill pact

HC rap for Centre, state over Hill pact

17 September 2011

tirthankar mitra 
KOLKATA, 17 SEPT: Calcutta High Court criticised the state government and Union government on Friday, for failing to address issues relating to the impact of an alleged influx of people from Nepal on demographics in India. The criticism comes long after the ink has dried on the memorandum of agreement (MoA) between the state, Union Government and the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) for the formation of Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA).
“The matter is extremely serious in nature. The respondents are taking the matter very lightly,” the Division Bench of Chief Justice Mr Justice JN Patel and Mr Justice Asim Roy said during a public interest litigation (PIL) hearing on the misutilisation of Articles six and seven of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950, which some say is leading to an influx of people of Nepali origin to India.  
The provisions in these Articles confer exclusive and restricted national treatment to the treaty beneficiaries in India and Nepal.
According to the PIL, which was submitted by Mr Kallol Guha Thakurta and  moved by Jan Chetna, a Siliguri-based voluntary organisation, an increasing number of people of Nepali origin are coming to India and enrolling themselves on the voters’ list in many constituencies in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and parts of the Dooars in West Bengal,
Resentment among people of non-Nepali origin about the inclusion of certain areas in the GTA's jurisdiction was manifested in a bandh in Siliguri. The bandh was part of a two-day agitation that took place on the day the MoA was signed. Several organisations are opposed to the GJMM’s demand for inclusion of eight wards from the Siliguri Municipal Corporation and 196 moujas each from the Terai and the Dooars in the GTA's jurisdiction. 
The Election Commission has failed to prevent this illegal inclusion, it was submitted. It is violating Article 326 of the Constitution which deals with adult suffrage. Under the Indo-Nepal-Great Britain tripartite agreement in 1947, soldiers who are subjects of Nepal recruited in certain Gorkha regiments are debarred from possessing voting rights in India, it had been submitted. Their progeny is also not given this right. 
Besides entering India from Nepal, a sizeable number of persons of Nepali origin are going to Bhutan and then coming over to India, it was submitted. As there is no extradition treaty between India and Bhutan, these people are not registered as foreigners. It was further submitted that there is rising apprehension that north Bengal and north east India will at a point of time be swamped by them. 
The issue of the change of demographic pattern is a significant factor in the inclusion of area under Gorkha Terriotorial Administration's (GTA) jurisdiction. Incidentally, the director of census operations is a member of the high-powered committee which had been formed to look into the issue of identification of GTA's area from Siliguri, Terai and Dooars, keeping in mind      the “compactness, contiguity, homogeneity and ground-level situations.”  

Bridging the gap

Bridging the gap

17 September 2011

Mamata Banerjee may fret and Sheikh Hasina may fume but both need to understand that the 
Teesta water-sharing agreement should not be based on random statistics but on realistic need, writes samir dasgupta 

With the Indo-Bangla Teesta water-sharing treaty being abandoned at the eleventh hour ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Bangladesh visit over West Bengal chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee’s reservations about the quantum to be shared, it will be helpful to examine how far her concerns and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resultant annoyance are valid.
The surface and ground potential of water resources in the Brahmaputra Basin, consisting of the sub-basins of the Sankosh, the Raidak, the Torsa, the Jaldhaka and the Teesta ~ all of which flow through north Bengal ~ are 96,852 million cubic meters (MCM) or 3,072 cubic meter per second (cum/sec) and 6,143 MCM, respectively, of which the Teesta sub-basin needs 32,124 MCM of surface water along with another 439 MCM of ground water to ensure continuous flow. A report dated 27 February 1987 compiled by an expert committee on irrigation constituted by the department of irrigation and waterways, Government of West Bengal confirms this. The committee, while studying the state’s surface and ground water potential, had recommended a number of technical steps to utilise the natural resource best. The panel had also suggested simultaneous flood control in order to minimise overflow into Bay of Bengal via Bangladesh. It would seem to the writer, who was one of the non-official members of the panel, that the state government, for reasons best known to itself, never heeded the recommendations of that panel of experts.
Currently, in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, West Dinajpur and Malda districts of the state serviced by the Brahmaputra Basin, about 60,000 hectares of land is irrigated by using 3,468 MCM or 110 cum/sec per annum with another 2,962 cum/sec to spare, of which 36 cum/sec of surface water is used to irrigate around 20,000 hectares in Saidpur, Rangpur and East Dinajpur in Bangladesh. 
Before arriving at an acceptable quantum of Teesta water to be shared by the neighbouring countries, it is necessary to estimate the total area that needs to be irrigated with surface water from the Teesta sub-basin both in Bangladesh and West Bengal in India. Apparently, available surface water is sufficient to meet the requirement of both countries. The water-sharing agreement should not be based on random statistics but on realistic need. For example, the tracts to the south and to the west of the Teesta-Brahmaputra (Jamuna) confluence do not need any water from the Teesta sub-basin as their requirements are met by the Jamuna sub-basin in Bangladesh.
In the interest of hydel power generation in India, we should not overlook the fact that by discharging water to Bangladesh through the Teesta barrage, India generates additional hydro-power as a by-product. Both India and Bangladesh would do well to apply appropriate technology to increase the retention capacity of the Teesta and Dalia barrages. 
In the past, there was a proposal to link the Brahmaputra with the Ganges via the Teesta not only to control flood in Bangladesh but also to facilitate increased flow of water through the Hooghly to flush silt out of the Kolkata port. This was envisaged in order to offset the shortage stemming from the decades-old Farakka agreement with Bangladesh. There is no reason why the proposal cannot be revived and made to come to fruition by the two neighbouring countries, with perhaps, assistance from the World Bank. 
Considering all this, neither chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee nor Sheikh Hasina should base their requirements on the absolute quantum of water available in the Teesta but on the actual quantity of water needed to irrigate the relevant area in both the Indian state and the neighbouring country. 

The writer is a retired technocrat and a former member of Expert Committee on Irrigation: Irrigation and Waterways Department; Government of West Bengal

Deepa threatens stir in N Bengal over super specialty hospital

Deepa threatens stir in N Bengal over super specialty hospital

9 September 2011
SILIGURI, 9 SEPT: The Raiganj MP and senior Congress leader, Mrs Deepa Das Munshi, has threatened a stir in north Bengal if the chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee kept on dithering over the proposed super specialty hospital for north Dinajpur on the lines of All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.
Mrs Das Munshi said that she had sent a letter to the chief minister a few days ago, seeking an appointment with her to discuss about the proposed health facility at Panishala near Raiganj. “I am still waiting for her response,” she said.
The senior Congress leader and former Union minister, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, had conceived the project. But his dream project has remained unfulfilled as Mr Das Munshi fell seriously ill.
“To put pressure on the chief minister, we will send a delegation from north Bengal to her soon. In case she remains apathetic to the demand we would stage a stir throughout north Bengal. Life may be disrupted and the chief minister would be held responsible for the likely mess,” she warned over phone from New Delhi.
 “We are all confused, as contrasting signals keep coming from the state government. The project is believed to be hanging in balance because of land acquisition problem. But we have cleared decks for the purpose, having earmarked lands at Panishala along the National Highway 34. The Centre would do the rest once the state government acquires the land,” she said.
“The fund is no factor concerning the project. The state government would have to just sanction   around Rs 15.5 crore in connection with the land acquisition. A part of it can easily be managed from the Uttar Banga Unnayan Parshad fund, amounting to Rs 200 crore, the state government has allotted for the body. The rest I will manage from the MPs’ local area development fund,” she said. sns

Asok, Deepa slam Mamata over Teesta

Asok, Deepa slam Mamata over Teesta

statesman news service
SILIGURI/BALURGHAT, 8 SEPT: When the chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee, is supposed to have torpedoed the much-publicised Teesta deal, involving India and Bangladesh, evidently to cater to her newly-acquired north Bengal constituency, two prominent political leaders from the region, Mrs Deepa Dasmunshi, known as the bete noire of the chief minister, and the CPI-M strongman from Darjeeling district, Mr Asok Bahattacharya, slammed Miss Banerjee, terming her decision to stay away from the bilateral meeting in Dhaka as “a monumentally suicidal one”.  
“The chief minister cannot be faulted for trying to protect the interests of the state she leads. But her gesture on the matter is not in sync with the culture of Bengal. When the Prime Minister was visiting the neighbouring country after a span of over a decade to better bilateral relations involving two important players in the volatile region, the chief minister from West Bengal should have shown the minimum courtesy,” she said. 
“The stance the chief minister has taken on the sensitive issue has come as a bolt from the blue. She did not raise cavil when the National Security Adviser, Mr Shiv Shankar Menon met her and finalised the nitty gritty of the PM’s trip to Bangladesh. Her idiosyncratic decision would not just tell upon the bilateral ties which started thawing after ages but would harm the interests of the state in the long run. Miss Banerjee missed the golden opportunity to better relation with our neighbour ~ a tragic failure in view of the success Jyoti Basu achieved,” she said.   
Echoing her, the former state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya said that Miss Banerjee should not have made the impulsive decision. “We wonder whether her decision is in consonance with the principles on which our country’s federal polity is based,” he said. “We have all along demanded a 25 per cent water share from Teesta. But there is a decorum to place the state’s point of view, particularly when the stakes involving India were high on the matter. She would have better convened an all-party meeting instead of unilaterally gone for such a suicidal decision,” the senior CPI-M leader opined. 

GJMM reaffirms stance on GTA election

GJMM reaffirms stance on GTA election

6 September 2011

statesman news service
DARJEELING/SILIGURI, 6 SEPT: The GJMM leadership today reaffirmed its stance that no election to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) would be allowed to be held in the Darjeeling Hills until the state government-appointed land survey committee submits its report regarding 
the party’s claim over the Gorkha-majority areas spread across the Terai-Dooars.
“We would not participate in the election to the new council until the Committee concerned submits its report to the state government,” said the GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri. However, he expressed satisfaction over the passage of the GTA Bill in the state Assembly. The party celebrated the passage of the GTA Bill in the Assembly today through several rallies and other programmes across the Hills.
A senior CPI-M leader, Mr KB Wattar said in Darjeeling yesterday that the Hill unit of the party was with the GJMM in the land transfer demand. According to the observers, the Hill CPI-M's stance has provided fresh impetus to the GJMM clamour over lands in the plains.
Banks and post offices as well as the educational institutions across the three Hill sub-divisions remained closed today in response to the GJMM-sponsored celebration programmes. However, shops and other commercial establishments remained open. Thousands of people participated in the ‘victory’ rallies staged across the Hills. However, intriguingly, the GJMM president, Mr Bimal Gurung did not participate in today’s programmes. He is away at Rimbick, around 80 km away from Darjeeling town, presiding over the party’s organisational meeting.
Mr Giri said the party should desist from confusing people by parading ‘spurious’ empathy for the cause of Gorkhaland. “We have not betrayed the cause as is being alleged,” he said.

BJP slams govt for Hills body
BJP state president Mr Rahul Sinha today said the state government had committed a blunder by including ‘Gorkhaland’ in the nomenclature of the administrative setup for the Darjeeling Hills. “This is a monumental mistake on the part of the state government. The chief minister seems to have been entrapped in a blind alley due to her overpowering obsession with claptrap. The state might pay the penalty in the form of a further division of the state,” he said. He demanded reintroduction of the traditional ‘Darjeeling’ and dropping of ‘Gorkhaland’ from nomenclature of the autonomous body. 

Triparite meeting on tea workers’ wages inconclusi ve

Triparite meeting on tea workers’ wages 

inconclusi

ve

6 September 2011

SILIGURI, 6 SEPT: The eighth round of tripartite talks, which began on 4 September in Kolkata to decide on  a fresh agreement on tea workers’ wages after the old one expired on 31 March, 2011, was inconclusive on the third day today when planters refused to accept the trade union leaders’ proposal.
While the planters’ apex body, Consultative Committee of Planters’ Association (CCPA), stuck to their proposal to increase the wage of a permanent tea worker from the present rate of Rs 67 to Rs 82 a day, the trade union leaders today requested them to pay Rs 90 from the first year.
Yesterday the CCPA had finally agreed to increase the wage by Rs 15 for the first year and Rs 4 and Rs 6 for the second and third year, respectively.
On the other hand, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM)-backed Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union (DTDPLU) demanded that the CCPA should increase the pay by Rs 25 from the first year in line with the decision of the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) which had increased wage by Rs 23 for a permanent tea worker in the Hills following a bipartite agreement with the DTDPLU a few months ago. At present a permanent tea worker gets Rs 90 a day in the Hills.
The DTDPLU’s Terai unit president, Mr Harihar Acharya, said: “The CCPA was very rigid and refused to accept our demand. We propose to go by the wages of tea workers in the Hills.”
“We have requested the state government officials to implement the Minimum Wages Act in tea plantation to resolve the ongoing stalemate in the tea plantation. We would appeal to chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee to implement the Act for the tea plantation workers,” said Mr Acharya.
The convenor of the defence committee for 10 tea workers’ unions, Mr Samir Roy, said: “We requested the employers to increase the wage from Rs 67 to Rs 90 from the first year so that a permanent tea worker gets Rs 100 in third year.” According to Mr Roy, another bipartite meeting is going on in Kolkata to settle the rate of Puja bonus for tea workers. sns

32 tea plantation TUs to attend tripartite talks

32 tea plantation TUs to attend tripartite talks

29 August 2011

statesman news service
SILIGURI, 29 AUG: More than 32-trade unions associated with tea plantations in the Terai-Dooars today decided to take part in the tripartite talks, which is scheduled to be held in Kolkata on 4 September.
The trade union leaders, who had boycotted yesterday's tripartite talks, held a convention in Siliguri today and they decided to join the tripartite talks demanding wage hike, bonus and variable dearness allowance for tea workers.
The trade union leaders also threatened to go on a strike after Durga Puja  if the state fails not settle the wage-hike issue immediately.
In order to resolve the ongoing stalemate in tea plantations demanding a fresh wage agreement for tea workers, the state labour department convened next tripartite talks on 4 September when yesterday's tripartite talks were inclusive owing to the absence of major trade union leaders, who have been operating in the tea plantations in this region.
A total of 26 trade union leaders boycotted yesterday's talks. Only a few trade union leaders, backed by the Adivasi Vikas Parishad, Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha and Trinamul Congress, were present. The Darjeeling district Intuc president, Mr Alok Chakrborty, attended the meeting yesterday and explained the reasons behind the boycott.
Addressing the convention, the trade union leaders today criticised the state government's role and described its sudden decision to call tripartite talks on 28 August a “dirty game”.
They also claimed the state government was encouraging a group, working here for “vested” interests in connivance with a section of planters to dismantle tea workers’ unity.
A section of planters have been able to break tea workers’ unity in the Hills and now they are trying to implement their plan in the Terai and the Dooars with the help of a few trade unions.
The leaders also criticised the chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee's decision to curb the strike, a part of workers’ movement, and adopted resolution that the tea workers would go on strike if situation demands.
The convenor, Defence Committee for Plantation Workers’ Rights, Mr Samir Roy said: “ The state government would have to look into the plight of tea workers and settled a fresh wage agreement including introduction of variable dearness allowance (VDA). If the state government fails to resolve tea workers’ problem we would go on more vigorous movement after Durga Puja festival.”
The convenor, Co-ordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers, Mr Chitta Dey said: “ Convention today demanded more bonus and ex gratia for tea plantation workers than the rate of last accounting year. The planters would have to pay bonus at least three weeks before the Durga Puja. The planters would have to take decision on it within first week of September.”
According to the trade union leaders, tea plantation workers would stage demonstration and take out rally demanding wage hike, bonus and VDA on 2 September in all tea plantations and serve deputation to their respective employers.
On the other hand, trade unions jointly organise demonstration and convention and would serve deputations to the respective planters’ associations, administrative officials including assistant labour commissioner, the sub divisional officer and district magistrate in their respective areas.
The trade unions have also planned to meet labour commissioner and the chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee at the last stage of their movement.

GJMM leaders to review GTA Bill
Senior GJMM leaders, including the general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri, will leave for Kolkata tomorrow to review the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Bill. “The copies of the Bill have been circulated among the Assembly members today. The GJMM general secretary will leave for Kolkata tomorrow. He will discuss the nitty gritty of the Bill with the state government officials before it is placed in the House on 2 September,” informed the Kalimpong MLA and the party media secretary, Dr Harkha Bahadur Chettri, over phone from Kolkata today.
Earlier, the GJMM leadership was skeptic as to whether the Bill would be tabled in the state Assembly during the monsoon session.  A few days back, the GJMM president, Mr Bimal Gurung threatened to revive the Gorkhaland demand unless the Bill was tabled in the House in course of the current session.   Mr Giri today looked contended with the copies of the Bills having been distributed among the MLAs. “We would, however, go through the contents of the Bill thoroughly before it is placed in the house. My party is happy that the state government has taken initiatives on the matter,” he said.
Dr Chettri stated that the Business Advisory Committee had held a meeting after the bill was distributed among the members of the Assembly. “It was decided that one and a half hour would be allotted for discussion on the GTA Bill on 2 September,” he said.