KalimNews: Incessant rains in the hills during the last week caused damages to many areas and in some areas it has sent a warning for the inhabitants for the coming days. Especially the villages have been witnessing new faults and cracks in their field and roads too. Suruk Busty of Jaldhaka in the Gorubathan Block is a village situated on the Todey road is about 12 km away from Jholung. It has been witnessing similar cracks and faults from August 1, 2010. Suddenly this fault widened during the night of 31st August and in the morning of September 1 many saw that their houses are in danger. Some cracks around their houses were seen and they fear that all the village will be swept away by landslide.
A fault is also seen in the main road of Todey just above the Suruk Primary school. The crack is about 8 inches wide and the road is sunk 2-3 ft below. Traffic to Todey along this road is closed due to the fault. Only light vehicles without passengers are allowed as such people are facing transportation problems.
The fault now clearly visible is about 300 mt long covering the whole village around the School area and the area just beside the fault is inhabitated by 13 houses below the fault and 8 houses above comprising of 123 people.
Of them the house of Ratan Chhetri is totally damaged and it is not inhabitable. Floor, courtyard and walls of his house is cracked at several places and it is dangerous to stay in that house. Another house of Tankay Sherpa is also in danger and they too have moved to other safe places of their relatives.
There are two schools- Suruk Primary School and a privately run Suruk Junior High School just below the fault which also lies in the danger zone.
There are two schools- Suruk Primary School and a privately run Suruk Junior High School just below the fault which also lies in the danger zone.
The school authorities have closed down the school for avoiding any accidents. BDO Gorubathan, OC Jaldhaka Thana , SI Gorubathan Circle of Primary education and other officers are informed of the danger and invited help and suggestions to control the fault and avoid further damage. People have stopped the vehicle movement, cut channels for diverting the rain water and are filling the faults with stones and boulders so that water may not enter inside the fault.
So far only assurances have been received said the villagers when the were contacted and visited by KalimNews.
So far only assurances have been received said the villagers when the were contacted and visited by KalimNews.The school authorities have closed down the school for avoiding any accident. BDO Gorubathan, OC Jaldhaka Thana , SI Gorubathan Circle of Primary education and other officers are informed of the danger and invited help and suggestions to control the fault and avoid further damage. People have stopped the vehicle movement, cut channels for diverting the rain water and are filling the faults with stones and boulders so that water may not enter inside the fault.
So far only assurances have been received said the villagers when the were contacted and visited by KalimNews.
So far only assurances have been received said the villagers when the were contacted and visited by KalimNews.
Janmukti Karmachari sangathan members in the Relay hunger strike of GJMM organised in the premises of SDO's Office in Kalimpong
KalimNews: 2 Company CRPF reached Siliguri for NH 31 A and a few town police stations.
MP advice a step a time for state -- Jaswant says Delhi proposal is 75 % of ultimate goal achieved  |
| Members of the Janmukti Karmachari Sangathan on fast outside the subdivisional office in Kalimpong on Wednesday demanding that Nickole Tamang be produced in court. Murder suspect Nickole fled from CID custody on August 22. (Chinlop Fudong Lepcha) |
However, he skirted contentious issues like the territory of the proposed new body or the inclusion of other parties in the talks with the Centre and the state government.
Arriving in Bagdogra this afternoon, en route to Darjeeling, just a week before the next round of tripartite talks, the BJP MP from Darjeeling said: “An interim arrangement for the Darjeeling hills is, I believe, one step forward towards meeting the demand for a separate state. The journey to get that (statehood) is a stiff task and the setting up of an interim arrangement is achieving 75 per cent of the ultimate goal.”
Earlier, too, in what appeared to be a clear message to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Singh had said achieving statehood was a “step by step” process and each stage had to be conquered before reaching the summit.
Singh had told the Telegraph in May this year: “Nothing can be achieved at one go, get the (authority) in your hand, administer the area and then after that build on it.” Today also Singh gave the same advice, and once again underlined the need for patience for achieving that “ultimate goal”.
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| Jaswant Singh at Bagdogra airport on Wednesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo |
“Mount Everest cannot be scaled with a single jump,” Singh told the media at Bagdogra airport. “During the creation of a new state, there will be stops and pauses.”
The “stops and pauses” that Singh referred to is evident as several contentious issues regarding the set-up is yet to be thrashed out.
In the next round of tripartite talks at the official level scheduled for September 7, the participants are expected to work on issues like the territory of the proposed set-up, its tenure and its composition. Also to be thrashed out are issues like the jurisdiction of the district magistrate and the superintendent of police, and elections to the panchayats.
"During his visit to Darjeeling, Singh is expected to discuss with the Morcha leadership the strategy to be adopted for the talks as well as the latest political situation in the hills.
Singh, however, appeared optimistic about the coming talks. “Even Sitaram Yechury, a senior CPM leader, during his recent visit to Darjeeling had said the present problems of the hills can be solved only through more autonomy and the people of the hills should welcome the interim set-up,” Singh said. “This reflects the position of the state government as well.”
Reacting to Singh’s views, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “Negotiations are on, but there are many issues involved in setting up this interim arrangement.” Asked whether his visit would remain confined to the hills, Singh said this time he would also visit Siliguri since it was part of his constituency. “I will definitely visit Siliguri and interact with the people there.”
More vehicles join strike
Reacting to Singh’s views, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “Negotiations are on, but there are many issues involved in setting up this interim arrangement.” Asked whether his visit would remain confined to the hills, Singh said this time he would also visit Siliguri since it was part of his constituency. “I will definitely visit Siliguri and interact with the people there.”
More vehicles join strike
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| Only hope but rare: NBSTC buses at a depot in Siliguri |
TT, Siliguri, Sept. 1: Truck and light vehicle owners in Jalpaiguri today joined the indefinite bus strike that entered its second day, narrowing down options for the thousands of passengers who now have to bank only on trains and government means of transport.
The North Bengal Passenger Transport Owners’ Coordination Committee has called the strike in the districts of Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Darjeeling, withdrawing 1,500 buses from potholed roads, which it said, were damaging their vehicles and increasing their expenditure.
“Yesterday, even though the fares of the light vehicles were exorbitant, those were at least available. But today, situation worsened as the light vehicles owners across Jalpaiguri district joined the strike,” said Madhusudan Roy, a daily commuter from Jalpaiguri. “As of now, the only means of transport is train from Jalpaiguri Town or Jalpaiguri Road station. It is also surprising that despite announcements by bus owners that they would not run the vehicles unless the roads were repaired, we have not heard from the state PWD or the NHAI which are in charge of maintaining the national and state highways.”
With transport movement — except government vehicles and buses plying from Bhutan and Assam — coming to a halt between the three districts, the pressure of passengers spilled onto the trains, particularly the local passenger trains that ply between New Jalpaiguri and Jalpaiguri, Haldibari, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Bamanhat.
“Thousands of passengers are swarming at the stations now and boarding local as well as express trains to reach different destinations in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts. The pressure has increased in NJP,” said G.D. Mondal, the station manager of New Jalpaiguri.
Many passengers said they have been using the trains since the deterioration of the road condition, despite the fact that it increased travel time.
“Many of us are using trains for the past two-three months. On the roads, there is either traffic congestion or a breakdown of vehicles. Ultimately, we are late. Trains are better though the travel time is more,” said Ramesh Lama, a resident of Mainaguri who attends office in Siliguri. Bus owners said neither the local administration nor the government has contacted them so far.
State PWD minister Kshiti Goswami held a meeting with senior officials at the circuit house here this afternoon. Another meeting on roads will be held with officials in Jalpaiguri tomorrow, administrative sources said.
Planters face state pay-up pressure- Interim hike hope for tea sector
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| Brew belt under poll spell |
Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Sept. 1: The tea industry, under “extreme” pressure from the CPM-led state government which has its eyes on next year’s Assembly polls, is likely to accept the demand for an interim wage hike for its workers in north Bengal. The next round of talks to discuss the wage hike will be held in Calcutta on September 9.
In the last five rounds of meeting between the state, trade unions and the garden managements, the planters were unwilling to accept any interim hike since the 2008 wage agreement is in place till March next year. The 3 lakh workers in the gardens of Darjeeling and the Dooars and Terai receive a daily wage of Rs 67. The workers had demanded an interim wage hike because of the rise in prices of essential commodities.
“During the last meeting, we were under extreme pressure from state labour minister Anadi Sahu and we are now actively considering an interim hike,” said an industry source. The meeting was held in Calcutta on August 30.
Observers believe that the Bengal minister is exerting pressure on the industry with an eye on the coming Assembly elections. “The Left has much at stake in north Bengal. With the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad making substantial inroads, it is a difficult time for the Left in north Bengal now,” said an observer.
Since setting up base, the tribal outfit has been making inroads into the Dooars and the Terai displacing dominant unions like the CPM’s Citu and the Congress’s Intuc. The loyalty switch of workers that followed was such that during a strike called by the Citu on July 5, almost 80 per cent of the 227 gardens were open in the Dooars.
Till recently, the tea management was unwilling to budge from its stand to go for an interim hike. But now, when it has changed its stand, the Adivasi Parishad has made it clear that it does not want an interim hike but a new agreement where the daily wage of workers will be Rs 250. “There is still some possibility of the negotiations falling through as the Adivasi Parishad is adamant that instead of an interim wage hike, the workers should be paid Rs 250 per day. This would be very difficult to accept,” a source said.
“So far the management had agreed only to repair the workers’ houses,” the source added.
The management is, however, pinning hopes on the labour minister to also impress on the Adivasi Parishad to accept the interim wage hike and keep the demand for Rs 250 daily wage for discussion at a latter stage. “Since the minister is exerting pressure on us which has forced us to change our minds, it is only right that he should impress on the unions, especially the Adivasi Parishad to be flexible,” said the source.
Sandip Mukherjee, secretary, Darjeeling Tea Association, said there were indications of a positive outcome in the next meeting.
“I can only say that the outcome should be positive,” said Mukherjee.
SMC to keep tabs on private hostels
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| A private hostel on Sevoke Road in Siliguri. Picture by Kundan Yolmo |
TT, Siliguri, Sept. 1: The recent incident of ragging at a private hostel here has prompted the Siliguri Municipal Corporation to make it mandatory for all hostel owners to get their establishments registered with the civic body so that it can keep regular tabs on them.
“We have hardly any details of the private hostels in the SMC area. Mayor Gangotri Dutta held a meeting recently where it was decided to make it mandatory for all hostel owners to get their establishments registered with us. They should also procure licences from the civic body,” said Seema Saha, member, mayor-in-council for trade licences and self-employment.
Recently, Riju Ghosh, a first-year student of Siliguri Institute of Technology, was compelled to leave a private accommodation in Pradhannagar and return to his hometown in Bankura following alleged “physical and mental torture” by two senior students residing in the same establishment.
Riju’s father had lodged an FIR against Kaushik Chakraborty and Aritra Bhattacharya at the Pradhannagar police station. The former is a second-year BCA student of SIT and the latter a second-year electrical engineering student at Surendra Institute of Engineering and Management. (SIEM).
There are around 50 private hostels in the 47 wards under the SMC to accommodate out-station candidates who come to Siliguri for work or education.
Both SIT and SIEM, the two engineering colleges in Siliguri, do not have on-campus hostels. “We will soon call a meeting of the councillors who will be asked to conduct a survey of their wards to find out the exact number of hostels. We will ask the owners to submit relevant documents of their establishments along with the details of those who stay there and a photocopy of their identity cards and purpose of their stay. This will help us keep regular tabs on these hostels,” said Saha.
The authorities of educational institutions have appreciated the initiative of the civic body.
“We have two private hostels, one for girls and another for boys, authorised by the college that are regularly monitored. But we cannot force all students to stay in them and some of them stay in private accommodations making it difficult for us to keep tabs on their activities after college. It is a good move by the SMC to have the private hostels registered,” said Sumanta Nag, a faculty member of SIEM.
TT, Midnapore, Sept. 1: Suspected Maoists last night dragged two CPM leaders out of their homes in West Midnapore and shot them dead after holding a kangaroo court.
Abinash Mahato, 45, a CPM zonal committee member from Beliabera, and Nirmal Bag, 42, the party’s branch committee secretary in Kharbandhi, were shot in the head and the chest. They were “found guilty” of torturing villagers, corruption and acting as police informers.
Police said a group of around a dozen armed Maoists raided Mahato’s house around 10.30pm yesterday and dragged him out. Then the rebels went to neighbouring Kharbandhi village, 1.5km away and pulled out Bag from his house. The Maoists tied the duo’s hands and marched them to a field where they were shot.
TT, Siliguri: A patients’ help centre was inaugurated by mayor Gangotri Datta at the Siliguri District Hospital on Wednesday. The centre, to be manned by the Siliguri Red Cross Society, will provide information on the hospital facilities and the patients admitted there.
TT, Malda: Debashis Bhattacharya took over as the principal of the proposed medical college in Malda on Wednesday. After a meeting with health and administrative officials, Bhattacharya recommended the setting up of a police outpost on the district hospital campus where the medical college would come up.
TT, Alipurduar: A 43-year-old was arrested from Dalgaon Busti in Falakata late on Tuesday night in connection with a case of witch hunting. Police said on August 26, the body of Kandi Munda of the same village had been recovered from the Mujnai riverbed. Investigations led the police to believe that Jagar Oraon had killed Kandi on suspicions that he practised black magic. Jagar was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days by the additional chief judicial magistrate on Wednesday.
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