National Highway 55 shut for 15 days - Choices galore: more time or steep ride A part of the national highway that caved in at Paglajhora (below) and houses under water along the banks of the Mahananda in Malda. Pictures by Kundan Yolmo and Surajit Roy TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 17: National Highway 55 will remain closed for at least a fortnight as heavy rain in the past couple of days has washed away the road surface over a distance of 20 metres near Paglajhora in Kurseong subdivision. It takes 30 minutes to an hour more — than the usual three hours taken on Hill Cart Road or NH55 — to travel to Darjeeling through alternative routes like Mirik and Mungpoo. The Pankahabari Road, another alternative, takes less time, but drivers usually avoid it because of the steep gradient and a number of hair-raising curves and bends. Moreover the road is narrow and off-limits for heavy vehicles. “It would take at least 15 days for temporary restoration of the national highway at 14th Mile near Paglajhora. A road surface of over 20 meters has been washed away while another 30 metres has sunk because of debris that have tumbled down from the hills,” said Nirmal Mondal, executive engineer, NH (division IX), while speaking over the phone from Siliguri. Around Rs 35 lakh will be needed for temporary restoration. “After the temporary restoration all vehicles will be able to ply through the highway. But we need permanent restoration to strengthen the road and for that we will need around Rs 30 lakh,” said Mondal. Prolonged closure of the highway essentially means that there is a possibility of the hills running out of essential commodities, especially if there are major landslides on the Mungpoo and Mirik roads, which anyway increase the travel distance between Darjeeling and Siliguri by about 25km. B.M. Garg, president, Darjeeling Chamber of Commerce, said: “Traders usually stock food items during monsoon and there is no need to panic at the moment. However, if the other two alternative routes get blocked, there could be some problem.” The landslide along the national highway has also delayed resumption of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway services between Darjeeling and New Jalpaiguri. “The tracks had been washed away at two places between Kurseong and Siliguri because of landslides in July this year. We had managed to complete restoration and were thinking of starting the services within the next two to three days. However, with the fresh damage it would now take at least 10 days more to resume toy train services,” said Subrata Nath, director, DHR, over the phone from Siliguri. Restoration work proceeds apace PTI, SILIGURI, 17 AUG: Relief and restoration work are in full swing in the Darjeeling Hills which had been hit by a series of landslides, official sources said today. The sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Kurseong, Mr Dibyendu Das said that 40 families were sheltered in seven relief camps in the sub-division and relief workers were distributing relief in the far-flung affected areas. Seven persons, including two children, have died, and seven were injured in a series of landslides in Darjeeling yesterday, which also left the National Highway linking Darjeeling and Siliguri blocked. Of seven injured, five were being treated in Kurseong hospital and two have been admitted to Kurseong Sadar hospital, the SDO said. The National Highway Authority of India and Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council workers are trying to clear the highway roads as the rains have stopped, he added. Meanwhile, Mr Amiyesh Tshering, the SDO of Kalimpong said, the situations in the sub-division were improving. Five families were sheltered in a camp at Bagrakote and there was no information of any further slide in the sub-division, he added. Morcha in police act ‘catch’ cop Roy (centre) at the media conference. Picture by Suman Tamang TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 17: Gorkhaland Personnel continue to check vehicles—despite the administration labelling the act illegal—with the uniformed youths today parading a constable in front of the media, who they claimed to have caught carrying marijuana, a banned substance. Prem Kumar Roy, a state armed police (SAP) constable, “admitted” before the journalists that he was carrying ganja for his personal consumption and that the amount was not more than 200gm. K.L. Tamta, the inspector-general of police, north Bengal, had earlier said the GLP had no constitutional right to check vehicles or individuals. “If the GLP is found checking vehicles, we will immediately book them for obstructing roads, wrongful confinement and extortion,” Tamta had said. However, if the police decide, Roy can be booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and can be sentenced to a maximum punishment of six months in jail or fined Rs 10,000 or both. But an officer of the Darjeeling Sadar police station where he was handed over said Roy had confessed out of fear. “He told us that he had admitted to carrying the ganja as he felt threatened.” Roy had brought the ganja from his village in South Dinajpur and he was on his way to join the SAP camp in Darjeeling. “By mistake I took a taxi to Jorethang (in Sikkim). When I realised it, I took another taxi and was coming back to Darjeeling when this happened,” said Roy. The constable had gone home on a weeklong leave and was to join duty today. “I had bought the ganjas for Rs 150 from my village. If you let me go, I will never ever smoke ganja in my life,” he said at the media conference called by the GLP, a special cell of volunteers raised by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, in a hotel near Chowrastha this evening. Roy was whisked away from there by the police, who had been informed by the GLP. Officers of the Darjeeling Sadar police station said “they were awaiting instructions from higher-ups”. C.S. Tamang, the in-charge of the GLP unit patrolling the Sikkim-Bengal border, said the vehicle with Roy had been intercepted at Singla-Karabari bridge, 22km from here, around 10.30am. “We found the ganja packets while frisking him. The policeman was not in his uniform but later we found his identity card and uniform in his luggage and we arrested him,” claimed Tamang. Recently, when the GLP put on display the illicit liquor it had seized during its raids on vehicles, the district magistrate had made it clear that the outfit had no such authorisation. The DM had also said the seized goods would not be accepted by the excise department “as doing that would mean the government is putting a stamp of authorisation on the seizures”. S.K. Rai, the joint secretary of the Morcha’s ex-serviceman association (Darjeeling unit), said: “The police do not allow us to work but they themselves move around carrying contraband. We now want an answer to this.” While the superintendent of police of Darjeeling, D.P. Singh, said “he was unaware of the incident”, Tamta could not be contacted. Morcha lines up sessions on talks Bimal Gurung performs a puja at Chowrastha in Darjeeling for the successful completion of the talks. Picture by Suman Tamang TT, Darjeeling, Aug 17: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has lined up a series of public meetings in the hills on the recently held tripartite talks starting from tomorrow before announcing its next phase of agitation. However, immediate strikes are being ruled out with the Morcha saying the tripartite meeting, which was held in New Delhi on August 11, had “progressed well”. “The delegation (that had participated in the talks) today apprised the central committee leaders about the developments in Delhi. We have decided to hold a public meeting in Kalimpong tomorrow followed by one in Kurseong the next day to tell the people about the developments,” said party general secretary Roshan Giri. The meeting in Darjeeling will be held on August 20. “It will be attended by party president Bimal Gurung who will then announce the future course of action,” Giri said. He added that the Morcha had already adopted a resolution on June 25, 2008 that the government should repeal the DGHC Act and create Gorkhaland in its place. “We are very clear about this demand.” The resolution, Giri claimed, had been forwarded to political leaders in Delhi and Calcutta. Asked if the party was willing to accept the implementation of the panchayat system — the single tier system has been defunct since 2005 in the hills — Giri said: “The party believes in democratic setups. We had not participated in the municipality elections because a three-tier system had not been put in place in the hills.” However, the Morcha maintained that the three-tier system should be implemented across the district including Siliguri. “This means that the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad — a one-of-its kind arrangement — must be scrapped and a zilla parishad put in place as there can only be one zilla parishad in a district,” said Giri. The Morcha’s stand essentially means that implementation of the panchayat system will not be easy for the state government as residents of Siliguri subdivision are most likely to oppose any move to scrap the mahakuma parishad. Giri also said his party members would carry on with the relay hunger strikes at Metelli, Birpara and Kalchini for some days. “As of now it will continue,” said Giri. With the Samsing tea garden reopening after nine years today, it was expected that the Morcha would lift the fast at least in Metelli where the estate is situated. The Morcha had started the hunger strike demanding the immediate reopening of the Samsing, Katalguri and Ramjhora tea gardens. Gorkha ‘guard of honour’ stirs Siliguri SNS,SILIGURI, 17 AUG: The alleged guard of honour by the Gorkhaland Personnel before the Darjeeling district magistrate, Mr Surendra Gupta on the Independence Day has stirred a controversy in the political and administrative circles in Siliguri. Mr Gupta, however, denied the fact, saying that he was contemplating action against those who, according to him, had misrepresented facts in certain section of the media with a malicious motive. The GLP has shot into the focus of controversy time and again with the state government and the ruling Left Front demanding it be winded up for alleged interference in the jurisdiction of the constitutionally-mandated state police force. The state urban development minister and a senior CPI-M leader, Mr Asok Bhattacharya today said that if such a thing had happened it was not in sync with the state government guidelines on the matter. “I do not know for sure whether the report published in certain sections of the media is authentic or not. Were this true, it would go down as a bad precedent for the district administration,” he said. Taking strong exception to the alleged GLP guard of honour to the district magistrate, the inspector general of police, north Bengal, Mr KL Tamta said that the alleged act of surrender before the GLP on the part of the district magistrate was unacceptable. “We must remember that the voluntary organization is infringing on the constitutional jurisdiction of the district law enforcing apparatus,” he said. The GJMM media secretary, Mr Harka Bhadur Chettri has, on the other hand, asked the critics of GLP not to read too much in an innocuous event. “It was a social parade on the occasion of the country's Independence Day. The presence of some GLP volunteers in such a parade should not have touched raw nerves anywhere,” he stated. Dismissing the episode as ‘concocted’ to defame him, the district magistrate, Mr Surendra Gupta said that he was contemplating action against those who had indulged in disinformation. “The report is baseless and malicious,” he said. He said that a few GLP volunteers might have been present in the Independence Day parade. “It is not possible for me to identify all those present in such a big gathering,” he said. Morcha basks in garden glory SNS. Siliguri, Aug. 17: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has scored over its rivals in the Dooars as its negotiations with the Ambootia Group led to the reopening of the closed Samsing Tea Estate today. The garden, which was owned by Tea Professionals’ Group with 2,317 workers on its payroll, was shut since September 19, 2003. “A few months ago, we had met the chief minister who had assured us that three closed tea estates would reopen. But when he failed to keep the promise, we intervened,” said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the media and publicity secretary of the Morcha, today. This was followed by negotiations with the Ambootia Group, which owns tea estates in Darjeeling, and finally, the new owners reopened the garden today with minimal administrative intervention. It is the third closed garden in the Dooars that reopened in the past two months, the other two being Raipur and Chinchula. The Morcha, which has not had a strong base in the Dooars unlike the hills, has won the confidence of Samsing workers in the past few months. Political observers have hailed the hill party’s move. “The Morcha leaders can now tell people that they are genuinely concerned about Dooars’s development,” one of them said. “Though different political parties and organisations like the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad had pressured the state government to take initiatives for socio-economic development of the tribals in the region, none of them has succeeded in reopening a garden so far.” Morcha leaders are upbeat about the development. They said the “Samsing success” would boost their confidence in the Dooars. “Definitely, it is an example of our sincere efforts,” Chhetri said. “We expect the jobless workers and their families of other closed estates to take a cue from this success.” At the central committee meeting of the Morcha in Darjeeling today, the leaders decided to revitalise the organisation in the Dooars. “It is important that we focus on the region and bring in more active people to augment our support base,” Chhetri said. Representatives of other political parties have, however, reacted cautiously to the Samsing reopening. While the CPM refused comment, Congress leaders said they, too, had contributions in reopening Raipur and Chinchula. The Parishad attributed the “Samsing success” to the Morcha’s high concentration of supporters in the garden. “It is not possible in other tea estates of the Dooars,” said John Barla, the president of the Dooars-Terai Coordination Committee of the Parishad. The final agreement between the management and workers of Samsing is yet to be signed, said Vandana Yadav, the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri. “After several rounds of bipartite negotiations, the garden reopened today on the basis of a tripartite meeting held on July 31. Once the formalities are complete, we will hand over the documents to the management and formally declare the garden open.” Hopes restored for planters SNS, JALPAIGURI, 17 AUG: Closed for the past nine years, the Samsing Tea Estate in the Meteli block of Jalpaiguri district reopened today. The vice-president of the plantation's new management Mr Anand Vansal said that they would clear the workers’ dues according to the instruction of the state government. “The plantation had 950 hectares under tea earlier, which has come down to 400 hectares in the past nine years due to land slide, uprooting of tea bushes etc. The condition of the factory and staff quarters has also suffered during this period. It would take some time to revive the plantation,” Mr Vansal added. The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha affiliated workers’ union played a positive role in the reopening of the plantation. According to GJMM media and publicity secretary Mr Binay Tamang, his party leadership held discussions on the tea estate with the state government and the Centre recently. “Moreover, the GJMM chief Mr Bimal Gurung and the new management visited Samsing on 15 August and declared the reopening of the plantation, which was complied with today,” Mr Tamang claimed. The Citu controlled the workers’ union at Samsing before its closure. The DM Jalpaiguri Mrs Vandana Yadav said: “The workers and the planters came to us today and informed about the re-opening of the plantation. We have assured them full cooperation in running the plantation.” ABAVP wants say in Puja bonus meet SNS, JALPAIGURI, 17 AUG: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad has for the first time demanded participation in the Puja bonus negotiations for tea workers of north Bengal to be held in Kolkata on 28 and 29 August this year. Raising questions against the efficiency of the workers’ unions functional in the tea industry of north Bengal, the ABAVP leadership has decided to demand maximum bonus for the plantation workers this year. According to the ABAVP media secretary Mr Raju Bara, the plantations workers have lost faith on the functional workers’ unions. “The unions have betrayed the poor tea workers over the years and have compromised with the planters on the question of workers’ rights. We have now taken up the tea workers’ responsibility and so would have to be a party to the Puja bonus negotiations,” mr Bara said. He added that the ABVP has not yet fixed a date for a meeting with the planters but our supporters would launch gate meetings for half-an-hour everyday from 19 August demanding 20 per cent Puja bonus. “We would not allow the workers’ union leaders to collect union subscription this year from the workers’ bonus as they did all these years. We would also observe suspension of work in all tea estates on 1 September as the day clashes with a festival. The management of the respective plantations would have to make a full day's payment,” Mr Bara added.