BSF raid exposes Indo-Bangla racket

MALDA, 4 JUNE: In an effort to check the smuggling of contraband drugs from India to Bangladesh, the BSF (Border Security Force) Malda sector office launched a special raid at Malda town station today and seized more than 6,400 bottles of highly concentrated, illegal Phensydil.

Acting on a tip off, BSF officials started a search operation in Malda town station, and searched the Farakka Express train when it arrived at Malda town station midday today.

The commandant of the 69 battalion BSF found some containers stacked on platform no 1, which some persons were loading into a medium size vehicle standing outside of Malda town station through ‘an illegal route', on the way to the railway administrative building, in the presence of members of the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police. The BSF chased the persons, after they detected the bottles as containing Phensydil. Those on foot fled the stations, but the BSF intercepted the driver of the vehicle.

The BSF officials called the owner of the vehicle, with the help of the driver, for interrogation as to the drug smuggling racket here. The BSF officials came to know that the product was coming from Patna in Bihar. The vehicle owner had been asked to send the product to Gazole.

“We have seized more than 6,400 bottles of Phensydil. There were five to six persons carrying the contraband product on that train but they fled, taking advantage of the huge crowd in Malda station,” said Mr PS Tomar, the DIG, BSF, Malda Sector.

“It is difficult to identify where the product was produced. The labels on the bottles of such powerful (contraband) Phensydil are generally fake. The manufacturers specially make such products for smuggling to Bangladesh and suppress the original address of the pharmaceutical company,” said Mr Tomar. “But we are sure that those products were being transported across the border for smuggling to Bangladesh,” he claimed. The BSF officials estimated the cost of each bottle at Rs 72. ; SNS

New subjects approved for colleges

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 3 JUNE: The state council for higher education has approved new subjects for honours study courses in several colleges and has asked the college authorities to introduce the subjects from this education session in the state.

Though the education department has also approved various subjects including Science (Honours) subjects for introduction in 15 colleges under the University of Gour Banga, the UGB authorities could not grant affiliation to introduce the approved subjects in its colleges till now.

“We have informed the respective colleges of the education department’s approval and have asked them to prepare to introduce the new subjects. However, the matter of affiliation for introducing new subjects which has to be granted by the executive council of the UGB , is yet to be completed”, said Mr. Tapas Chatterjee, registrar of the UGB.

Mr. Chatterjee also said: “We could not hold an executive council meeting due to the absence of a vice chancellor in the UGB. Many important decisions and their implementation are being delayed due to the absence of a vice chancellor here”.

The vice chancellor issue is creating waves at the UGB and the students’ organisations are planning to launch a movement demanding a new appointment into the post. The SFI has decided to submit a memorandum to the UGB authorities on the issue on 5 June, as announced by its district secretary Mr. Joy Chakraborty.

It may be noted that Prof. Surabhi Banerjee resigned from the UGB VC’s post to join as VC of Central University in Orissa.

According to the education department’s instruction, Gour Mahavidyalay in Old Malda will have to introduce Mathematics and Zoology departments with honours. In Malda district, Gazole College will introduce honours in Geography. An Arabic honours course will be introduced in Kaliachak College. Malda Women’s college will introduce a pass course with a combination of Mathematics and Computer Science subjects. Samsi College will launch an honours course in Geography and Sociology and pass course students will now be able to combine other subjects with Education. South Malda College would introduce honours courses in History and Economics and a pass course in Education.

In South Dinajpur, Balurghat College will introduce a BCA honours. Balurghat Women’s College will introduce new pass course subjects such as Home Science, Chemistry and Zoology. Buniadpur College and Jamini Mohan Smriti College will introduce Bengali and History honours courses.

In North Dinajpur, Kaliyaganj College will introduce honours courses in three subjects – Sanskrit, Physics and Chemistry, and Statistics would be introduced for pass course students. Itahar Meghnath College and Islampur College will introduce Philosophy and Geography pass courses respectively. (END)

Focus on NREGS in Malda this week

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 3 JUNE: To achieve the target and allot the funds under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) the Malda district administration will observe NREGS Week from 6 to 12 June across the district, focusing on areas where people do not know about the 100-days job scheme.

The objective of this programme is to make people aware of their right to the 100-days job and its pros and cons. The district magistrate Mr. Sridhar Ghosh will review the progress report after the end of the NREGS Week.

Primarily, the district administration has asked the block and panchayat officials to take up at least one scheme in each gram sansad , estimating that each will be funded by a minimum of Rs. 1 lakh. The distrit administration has a target of utilising Rs.2000 lakh or more during NREGS Week, as the district has a total of 2008 gram sansad.

Recently, the state government has directed the selection of various new schemes for the rapid utilisation of funds for providing 100 days job to registered labourers.

According to the district nodal officer of the NREGS, Mr. Tanay Deb Sarkar, under the NREGA block and panchayat officials can take up social forestry programmes, schemes for orchards, renovation of pond for fishery, and registered labourers may be engaged in earth work under the Pradhan Mantro Gram Sadak Yojona. Under the supervision of the irrigation department registered labourers can build embankments across the district for flood protection.

“The NREGS was a ‘supply driven’ programme here but we want to make it a ‘demand driven’ one one observing NREGS Week. People will always demand 100-days job from local bodies”, said Mr. Tanya Deb Sarkar, nodal officer of the NREGS in Malda.

District magistrate Mr. Sridhar Ghosh said:” The progress of the NREGS in April and May was better than last year. The district has been able to utilise Rs.1184 crore in the past tow months, though officials were busy with elections. The district was only able to utilise Rs. 3.62 core in April and May in the last financial year”.

Family picks exorcists over hospital

MALDA, 2 JUNE: A 23-year-old youth died of a snake bite yesterday evening in Mahanandapally, English Bazaar town, after his family members brought in exorcists to deal with the problem, rather than taking the man to hospital.

Residents of Mahanandapally watched the act of "exorcising an evil spirit" by so-called experts, who failed to save the life of 23-year-old Dhanraj Thapa, alias Chhatan, from a snake bite yesterday.

When Chhotan, a worker of a steel furniture manufacturing unit, was bitten by a snake, he shouted and informed his family members. However, instead of taking him to hospital, his family called an exorcist who arrived, along with his associates, from nearby areas.

Chhotan became senseless at around 3.00 p.m yesterday. After several attempts, reciting charms and incantations, this group failed to bring the victim back to health and finally refused to continue. Ignoring local people's advice, Chhotan's family members then sought help from another exorcist in north Dinajpur district. The local councillor and chairman of the English Bazaar Municipality, Mr Narendranath Tiwari, had sent his men to stop the practice and ask Chhotan's family to bring him to hospital. “Wind up the practice soon, otherwise Nandu-da (chairman) will send the police,” said representatives of the chairman. However, they were not heeded.

Nobody informed the administration, health department or media of the situation while Chhotan was undergoing his ordeal. Eye witnesses said that the youth died late yesterday evening. Chhotan's two brothers and father Mr Bahadur Thapa, a rickshaw puller and resident of Hathat Colony in Mahanandapally, along with other family members, cremated the youth's body this morning. ; SNS

Encroachers steps after polls

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 2 JUNE: Transportation has been paralysed and suffocated due to the encroachments of roads and crossings, and lack of a proper traffic management system in English Bazaar town.

After receiving complaints from various corners, the chairman of the English Bazaar Municipality Mr N Tiwari sought the help of the district magistrate and urged him to take action to ease traffic congestion.

“Traffic congestion is a regular feature of Malda town. It is really horrible and creates suffocating conditions. We have planned to hold a meeting with civic body and political leaders - including the English Bazaar MLA who objected to the present traffic management system which was introduced last year,” said Mr Sridhar Ghosh, the Malda DM.

“We do not want to take action against the encroachers before the by-poll of ward no 11 in English Bazaar Municipality. But after the end of the by-poll we must take action against the encroachers and introduce a new system of traffic management,” Mr. Ghosh said.

“The problem of traffic congestion will be increased day by day if we cannot shift the present two bus stands from the heart of English Bazaar town,” said Ms Sumala Agarwala, Trinamul Congress councillor of English Bazaar Municipality.

Though it was decided that two bus stands including the private one would be shifted to the Central bus terminus, the construction of the Central bus terminus is under suspension due to unknown reasons,” she added.

“Owing to political pressure, we cannot evict unauthorised encroachments, where auto-rickshaws, maxi-taxi and matador unions have set up stands on either side of the NH 34 from the NCC office close to Malda College to Sukanta More,” Ms Agarwala said.

There is a similar problem on Station road and on another state highway from Rathbari rail gate to Ghorapir truck stand, where footpaths have already been grabbed, narrowing the space for the main roads. Due to unauthorised vehicle stands, people are suffering a lot across the town,” Ms Agarwala added.

Local residents say that if the administration does not take action there would be another encroachment on any road crossing once the second bridge of Mahananda is inaugurated within the town.

The English Bazaar Municipality has found that people suffer traffic congestion from 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. every working day at Foara More in front of the Head Post Office and Chittaranjan Market, Rathbari on NH 34, junction of Station road connecting NH 34. During school and office times, people face horrible situations on Ravindra Avenue, KJ Sanyal Road, BG Road, NS Road and BS road.

People face difficulties on Ravindra Avenue, formerly called Rajmahal Road, where the main road is divided into two ways for the Rathbari Flyover on the eastern side. The narrow roads are gradually becoming congested due to unauthorised encroachments on the basement of the flyover.

Students to suffer due to fewer seats

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 1 JUNE: Successful students in the HS examinations may face problems in getting admission into colleges in the district because of limited enrollment capacity.

Students interested in Science subjects may face more problems, owing to lack of colleges where science subjects are available.

Apprehending such problems, both the SFI and CP, students’ organisations, have planned to launch a movement to resolve the issue.

The district secretary of the SFI, Mr Joy Chakraborty said: “We have planned to submit a memorandum to the authorities of Gour Banga University on 5 June on the issue of ongoing admission problems and examination procedures in colleges.”

“From tomorrow, the admission process will begin in 23 colleges within Gour Banga University. We want the college authorities to take admission of students on the basis of merit. Seat allotments in honours subjects, especially Science should be taken proper care of,” Mr Chakraborty said.

In Malda there are nine colleges, including the newly established Harishchandrapur College. Amongst these only the Malda College is up to the mark in Science subjects, including Computer Science.

Besides Malda College, there are only two colleges in Chanchal and Old Malda where students can study Mathematics as an honours and Science as a pass subject.

Last year, following students’ agitation, authorities had increased admission into colleges by three seats in each honours subject to accommodate more meritorious and interested students.

The CP district president, Mr Madhumay Sarkar said: “We are going to submit a memorandum to the district administration on 3 June on the issue of overall admission problems in this district. This year, calculating the present percentage of successful candidates in MP and HS, nearly 5,000 students would have to drop out due to lack of seats in colleges.”

“We will demand that college authorities issue an admission form to all students. There would not be any merit bar before giving out admission forms. After submission of the applications, the college authorities can select the students on the basis of merit,” Mr. Sarkar said.

This will lead to more and more students intrested in Science, queuing up before Malda College.

The College is already under tremendous pressure regarding admission into various Science subjects.

Students from Murshidabad, North and South Dinajpur come here to seek admission into Malda College's Science department.

Congress looks outside Guho family for by-poll

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 1 June: The Congress leaders have finally nominated Mr Atul Singh as a contesting candidate for the by-poll of ward no 11 in English Bazaar Municipality (EBM).

Mr Singh had been the councillor in the period from 1981 to 1990 belonging to the CPI-M but had left the party and joined the Congress after ‘90. The town Congress leaders has now finally accepted the application of Mr Singh, cancelling the other 15 applications.

The English Bazaar Congress MLA Mr Krishnendu Choudhury said: “We are sorry; we could not nominate a family member of Biswanath Guho, because two members, (daughter and second wife of Guho) demanded tickets. To avoid any controversy we had to select another man who got overwhelming support from the residents of the ward.”

Guho was the Congress councillor for many years and was elected from ward no 11. He was also the vice-chairman of the EBM and district Intuc president. He was murdered last year.

The CPI-M has already nominated Mr Dilip Choudhury, branch secretary of that area.

According to the CPI-M leader, Mr Indrajit Mitra : “Dilip had contested in the last municipal election from this ward against Biswanath Guho and bagged 35 per cent votes. The party has finally decided to nominate him again. In the Lok Sabha election, the CPI-M candidate bagged 29 per cent votes from this ward no 11.”

The BJP has nominated Mr Sanjay Dey, an advocate, as its candidate for ward no 11. The BJP has always secured third position in this ward. A few years back, a senior BJP candidate (Mr Biswapriya Roy Choudhury) was elected from this ward. There are 25 seats in the EBM. At present, the Congress and the Trinamul Congress have 12 seats and run the board with the help of one elected BJP member Mr Amlan Bhaduri, who contested in North Malda Parliamentary seat. The LF has 11 seats, including one Independent elected member.

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.