TT, Siliguri, March 19: The GNLF is planning to convene a public meeting in the Darjeeling hills this month to “expose” the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders.
The party is also thinking of observing its foundation day on April 5 in Kurseong after four years.
“After yesterday’s meeting in Delhi, it is apparent that the Morcha leaders are more interested in getting funds from the central government rather than achieving separate state,” said Rajen Mukhia, the convener of the GNLF’s Terai branch, today. “Quite aptly, they have been satisfied by the Centre’s offers. They came out of the meeting without expressing any anguish over the one-and-a-half months delay caused by the central and the state governments.”
Mukhia said they had apprised party president Subash Ghisingh of the Delhi meeting and he had instructed them to convene a public meeting in the hills before the end of March. “At that meeting, we will expose the Morcha leaders who are simply pocketing government funds and becoming millionaires over the years.”
At the foundation day rally, the GNLF will highlight how the Morcha leaders have deviated from the Gorkhaland issue. “They want to settle the matter with the governments and therefore harping on the formation of a regional authority,” Mukhia said.
“They have lost their relevance in the hills and like an expired medicine, their regime was also over on March 10, when their president (Bimal Gurung) failed to meet the commitment (of achieving the separate state).”
After March 15, when Gurung unveiled the “secret proposal”, the GNLF revived its political activities across the hills. A meeting was organised at Sukna the next day to criticise the document.
The GNLF accused the Morcha leaders of confusing the hill people for a separate state. “Unlike we, who gave no false hopes, they have been confusing the people over the past three years in the name of Gorkhaland,” Mukhia said.
Rahul Sinha, the state BJP president who reached here today, welcomed the outcome of the Delhi talks. “We have demanded talks to sort out the (Gorkhaland) issue. It is good that both the governments are finally convening meetings,” he said.
Morcha fire for CM blame on Shilda camp
TT, Darjeeling, March 19: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has strongly condemned chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s allegation that the Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel at the Shilda camp were responsible for their own deaths.
On February 15, 24 EFR personnel were gunned down by Maoists at Shilda in West Midnapore and 16 of those killed hailed from the Darjeeling hills.
Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said over the phone from Delhi: “We strongly condemn the chief minister’s statement in the Assembly yesterday. It is the state government’s responsibility to act on specific intelligence inputs. The EFR personnel act only on directions from their top brass.”
Bhattacharjee, while replying to a question by the leader of Congress Legislative Party Manas Bhunia on the intelligence failure at the Shilda camp, said: “There was a failure on the part of the leadership at the camp. If they (policemen at the camp) ignored the intelligence inputs, it was a serious mistake.”
The Morcha general secretary said the government had already admitted that the Shilda camp was located in a vulnerable place. “This makes it clear that the government (despite the knowledge) had even then not shifted the camp to a safer location.
“The government should stop the blame game and take the responsibility for the 24 deaths as our people were the ones to die,” he said.
Bhattacharjee had also said intelligence reports were not always sent to the home secretary and the director-general of police or the district police superintendents, indicating that intelligence was shared at camp levels also. A three-member committee headed by home secretary Ardhendu Sen was investigating whether the Shilda camp had any specific information from the district intelligence sources.
“It was improper for the chief minister to react even before the investigation led by the home secretary was over,” Giri said.
Earlier, the Morcha leadership had expressed its displeasure over the absence of senior ministers and dignitaries like the mayor of Siliguri when the bodies of the slain EFR personnel were brought by road from West Midnapore to Siliguri en route to their homes for their funeral.
Singer home torched
The house of Nepali singer Binod Sangden was torched at Pokhrebong, about 45km from Darjeeling, yesterday. Sources said the local unit of the Morcha as well as Sangden’s relatives had filed separate FIRs with the Sukhiapokhri police station.
The Morcha has alleged that the “public” reacted violently after some vehicles had been damaged by people owing allegiance to Sangden. The police said the trouble was over the awarding of tenders for a road repair under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
3 girls rescued in Delhi
TT, Siliguri, March 19: Three minor girls from Nagrakata were rescued by an NGO with the help of police at New Delhi railway station today and a woman was arrested on charges of trafficking the trio.
Shakti Bahini, the Delhi-based NGO, said the police registered a case against the 26-year-old woman from Jiti Tea Estate in Nagrakata and a search was on to arrest the owner of a job placement agency in Delhi where she claimed she was taking the girls. The girls are also from Jiti. The NGO is contacting the police and district administration in Jalpaiguri to send the girls home.
Titbits
KalimNews: Yog guru Baba Ramdev during his visit to Sikkim praised Pawan Chamling, CM and Sikkim. R
ecently
Baba commented that Sikkim has tremendously developed and it should be followed by other states. He stated that he will make a video on Sikkim's progress and Chamling's hardwork. His statement was rejected by N.B.Bhandari, BJP, Sikkim Unit, and other opposition leaders including the Bhojraj group.
Coming soon: major catastrophe
Satyabrata Chakrabarty, SNS: IS the North-east headed for a virtual water famine? With the groundwater level declining drastically in most states in the region, about 7,000 habitations have been identified as having an excess of fluoride, arsenic, nitrate and iron in the water people drink, posing a serious threat to the already fragile ecology.
Assam (28,181 habitations), Tripura (2,931), Arunachal Pradesh (566), Nagaland (236), Meghalaya (124), Sikkim (76), Manipur (37) and Mizoram (26) have been identified as most prone. In most cases, according to water scientist SC Patra, main sources are drying up or the groundwater table is declining. Besides, systems work below rated capacity due to poor operation and maintenance, the increase in population has resulted in lower per capita availability and slippages have also taken place because of the seasonal shortage of water.
The latest study reveals that a total of 7,067 habitations across the region have been identified as “badly arsenic-affected” and 29,030 as “fluoride-affected”. Groundwater, the major source of rural supply, is fast depleting in many areas because of the largescale exploitation of an expanding village irrigation network. In many areas, groundwater levels have shrunk by four to five feet. The situation has deteriorated following the unusual prolonged drought. Even Cherapunjee in Meghalaya, once the wettest place on earth, is now drying up.
In Tripura, much the same is happening with all the rivers. There has been no rainfall over the last eight months and the levels of several riverbeds have risen due to siltation following soil erosion in the hill areas as a result of the shifting cultivation and largescale denudation of forests.
Drinking water supply in Agartala has been badly hit following the declining level of the Hawra river. The state’s hydel power generation has also been affected. Experts are worried about the rapid depletion of the groundwater table because this allows sea water to flow into aquifers, thus rendering what flows from wells and hand-pumps unfit for human consumption. This acute shortage of water is fast acquiring even more dangerous dimensions. With more untreated or partially treated effluents being discharged by industrial units and municipalities into the water bodies, the threat is obvious.
The Tripura State Pollution Control Board recently conducted a study on the Hawra river, considered the lifeline of Agartala city as it meets the demands of its 500,000 people. The study reveals that untreated sewage — about 6,654 kg per day of human excreta – is discharged into the river from about 1,100 improvised latrines along its banks. Bacterial contamination, including pathogens and solid wastes, from different sources like cremation grounds are discharged directly into the river in the urban and semi-urban areas. The board has noted its concern over the dubious characteristics of drinking water sources in Tripura’s major hospitals.
There is now nationwide concern that the drinking water scenario in India is evolving into a major crisis and tough measures need to be taken. A considerable portion of treated water is lost through leakage in the transmission and distribution system. There is substantial scope for recycling waste water for gardening and other purposes and there is the need to revive our traditional water harvesting system.
Despite this grim situation, not to forget the growing pollution hazards, the authorities in the North-east appear to be quite complacent about combating the crisis. In some of the states, Central funds for generating water potential have either been diverted or utilised improperly. As the sources of water are going dry in the hill areas, enteric diseases are taking their toll. Every year 1.5 million children below the age of five die in the country because of water-related diseases.
The synergistic affect of bad drinking water and diarrhoeal infections needs to be highlighted and community-based systems need to be evolved to ensure rational use of treated drinking water and equitable access to it without wastage. Sadly, there is hardly any indication so far of how governments in the region are preparing to face this situation.
Assam (28,181 habitations), Tripura (2,931), Arunachal Pradesh (566), Nagaland (236), Meghalaya (124), Sikkim (76), Manipur (37) and Mizoram (26) have been identified as most prone. In most cases, according to water scientist SC Patra, main sources are drying up or the groundwater table is declining. Besides, systems work below rated capacity due to poor operation and maintenance, the increase in population has resulted in lower per capita availability and slippages have also taken place because of the seasonal shortage of water.
The latest study reveals that a total of 7,067 habitations across the region have been identified as “badly arsenic-affected” and 29,030 as “fluoride-affected”. Groundwater, the major source of rural supply, is fast depleting in many areas because of the largescale exploitation of an expanding village irrigation network. In many areas, groundwater levels have shrunk by four to five feet. The situation has deteriorated following the unusual prolonged drought. Even Cherapunjee in Meghalaya, once the wettest place on earth, is now drying up.
In Tripura, much the same is happening with all the rivers. There has been no rainfall over the last eight months and the levels of several riverbeds have risen due to siltation following soil erosion in the hill areas as a result of the shifting cultivation and largescale denudation of forests.
Drinking water supply in Agartala has been badly hit following the declining level of the Hawra river. The state’s hydel power generation has also been affected. Experts are worried about the rapid depletion of the groundwater table because this allows sea water to flow into aquifers, thus rendering what flows from wells and hand-pumps unfit for human consumption. This acute shortage of water is fast acquiring even more dangerous dimensions. With more untreated or partially treated effluents being discharged by industrial units and municipalities into the water bodies, the threat is obvious.
The Tripura State Pollution Control Board recently conducted a study on the Hawra river, considered the lifeline of Agartala city as it meets the demands of its 500,000 people. The study reveals that untreated sewage — about 6,654 kg per day of human excreta – is discharged into the river from about 1,100 improvised latrines along its banks. Bacterial contamination, including pathogens and solid wastes, from different sources like cremation grounds are discharged directly into the river in the urban and semi-urban areas. The board has noted its concern over the dubious characteristics of drinking water sources in Tripura’s major hospitals.
There is now nationwide concern that the drinking water scenario in India is evolving into a major crisis and tough measures need to be taken. A considerable portion of treated water is lost through leakage in the transmission and distribution system. There is substantial scope for recycling waste water for gardening and other purposes and there is the need to revive our traditional water harvesting system.
Despite this grim situation, not to forget the growing pollution hazards, the authorities in the North-east appear to be quite complacent about combating the crisis. In some of the states, Central funds for generating water potential have either been diverted or utilised improperly. As the sources of water are going dry in the hill areas, enteric diseases are taking their toll. Every year 1.5 million children below the age of five die in the country because of water-related diseases.
The synergistic affect of bad drinking water and diarrhoeal infections needs to be highlighted and community-based systems need to be evolved to ensure rational use of treated drinking water and equitable access to it without wastage. Sadly, there is hardly any indication so far of how governments in the region are preparing to face this situation.
IS SIKKIM SAFE
Barbaric Act of AH&VS department by setting fire to destroy hundreds of infants ( report from voice of Sikkim)
If it was an epidemic then there is a proper measure to tackle the issue, in fact the debate is initiated which is unstoppable under any circumstance now, though God made us to preserve the innocent animals for which he has given us a mind to fight for their cause, WE ARE NOT SUPERIOR THAN GOD TO DECIDE NOR TO CLAIM OTHERS LIFE.
If it was an epidemic then there is a proper measure to tackle the issue, in fact the debate is initiated which is unstoppable under any circumstance now, though God made us to preserve the innocent animals for which he has given us a mind to fight for their cause, WE ARE NOT SUPERIOR THAN GOD TO DECIDE NOR TO CLAIM OTHERS LIFE.
The open Inhuman slaughter of animals in Sikkim is the first ever barbaric act that has happened in the History of religious state Sikkim.
Sikkim boasts conferred with several environmental awards which is a very good impression throughout the world. The devastating “Black Day” for Sikkim dates back on 14 March 2010 when hundreds infants were brutally thrown into gushing flames at Jorethang exposes how much arrogant can one be. When hundreds of chicks were poured into flames publicly where hundreds of children too were present in the scene of barbaric act clearly indicates vandalism against the Animal Act of the Indian Law.
On 14 March 2010 a group of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science , the Department under Governement of Sikkim set fire to 325 Chicks, 1750 Eggs of Krishna Kumar Rai, Rai who earns through poultry culture at Sisney, Jorethang. Joint Director DK Pradhan of said department instructed fellow staff to destroy the innocent chick by throwing them into a fire. Instruction were followed by the supporting staff AL Rai,Neema Karma Bhutia and whole process of brutal barbarism took place in front of huge public gathering as well as children, the event was witnessed by several intellectuals but their voices were crushed down while trying to speak against the said action of the department. It is even informed that chick trying to save their lives were gathered back into flames!
Being a human one has a respect for the animals but why don’t these group had in their mind that animals too are protected in country INDIA by legal laws? If department does not know about animals laws then how it is functioning? The debate is begun and the infants should get a justice that is legitimate rights of ANIMALS too!!!“If we cannot save a animals be it a infants even , then we do not reserve a right to throw them in a surging fire. If it was some type of epidemic then why was the whole slaughtering process carried out openly without any preventive measures??”
Being a human one has a respect for the animals but why don’t these group had in their mind that animals too are protected in country INDIA by legal laws? If department does not know about animals laws then how it is functioning? The debate is begun and the infants should get a justice that is legitimate rights of ANIMALS too!!!“If we cannot save a animals be it a infants even , then we do not reserve a right to throw them in a surging fire. If it was some type of epidemic then why was the whole slaughtering process carried out openly without any preventive measures??”
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