EOI, SILIGURI, MAY 29, 2024 : Mayor of Siliguri Gautam Deb has announced a temporary prohibition on the supply of drinking water supply in the municipal areas from May 29 to the afternoon of June 2due to contamination of water.
While water would continue to be supplied daily in municipal areas, city residents have been strongly advised against consuming it.
Except using it as drinking water, the supplied water remains suitable for use in other purposes. Reports indicate that a decrease in Biochemical Oxygen Demand has led to contamination of the drinking water supply.
On Wednesday, Mayor Gautam Deb addressed the issue at a news conference held in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) and stated that water samples had been dispatched to Kolkata for testing, and the results were expected to be available in five days.
Meanwhile, the water should not be consumed until the reports arrive.
To address the issue,the SMC has arranged for alternative sources of drinking water, including the distribution of 100,000 water pouches.
Additionally,15,000 to 20,000 pouches would be distributed in each of the five boroughs, and drinking water tankers would be dispatched to every ward.
Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh criticized Mayor Gautam Deb, alleging a failure in municipal governance.
He pointed out that residents had already been consuming contaminated water for the past 15 to 16 days and held the Mayor and the Municipal Council accountable for the situation.
Students participate art competition on the occasion of 164th Birth anniversary of Kobi Guru Rabindranath Tagore organised by MLA Prithiraj Rabha at Tezpur—— UB Photos
EOI, DARJEELING, MAY 29, 2024 : To mark the birth anniversary of
legendary mountaineer Tenzing
Norgay Sherpa, the Gorkhaland
Territorial Administration on
Wednesday introduced a day long
hiking trail for outdoor adventure
enthusiasts.
May 29 marks the 110th birth
anniversary of Tenzing Norgay
and 71st year of summit of
Everest. On this day in 1953
Tenzing and Sir Edmund Hillary
scaled the highest peak on earth
for the first time.
The hiking trail will start
from Chowrasta, the most popular
square of Darjeeling and end at
Sidrapong which is considered as
the first hydroelectric project of
Asia. The 10 km trail will take
tourists through picturesque
landscapes and lush green tea
gardens. There will be stops at the
Tibetan Museum, Tenzing’s
house, Ava Art Gallery, the
historic Burdwan Palace and the
Arya tea garden,
all of which are
located in low
altitude and
tourist hiking
friendly.
“In the past too
the GTA
introduced short
hiking trails for
tourists and
adventure
enthusiasts. This
year we have
launched a 10 km
trail from
Chowrasta to
Sidrabong. We
have already conducted a trial run
and have found that is will be
convenient and easy for the
tourists,” said the GTA’s
department of adventure
tourism, coordinator, Dawa
Gyalpo Sherpa. The return
journey will be by vehicles via
the Orange Valley tea estate.
Last year, the GTA introduced
a 12 km hiking trail from
Chowrasta to Tiger Hill. “With
these long hiking trails, we intend
to promote eco-friendly tourism
and encourage tourists to take up
healthier travel activities,” the
GTA adventure
tourism
department
coordinator saikd.
The
Himalayan
Mountaineering
Institute organized
a programme
during the day to
commemorate
Tenzing’s birth
anniversary. Floral
tribute was offered
at the Samadhi of
Tenzing located
within the HMI
premise.
“It is a matter of great pride
that he (Tenzing Norgay) was the
first field director of our institute.
We continue to follow in his
footstep. The tourists got to know
about the birth anniversary of the
first person to summit Everest and
his connection with the HMI,”
said the HMI principal, Group
Captain Jai Kishan. Tenzing died
on May 9, 1986 in Darjeeling and
was cremated inside the HMI and
his Samadhi has now become a
popular must visit spot.
Tenzing’s son Jamling
Tenzing Norgay reiterated the
demand for conferring the
legendary figure with the Bharat
Ratna. “It is the demand of the
Sherpa community and people of
Darjeeling Hills. My father was
the first Indian to summit Everest
and bring the country to limelight
just a few years after the British
left. My father was also the first
non-political recognized icon who
inspired people all over the
world. We will continue to
request the Government to
respect the wish of the people,”
he said.
EOI, PAKYONG, MAY 29, 2024 : The Pakyong district authorities have started taking measures to ensure public safety in view of the rising level of water of river Teesta.
In accordance with the directive of District Collector Pakyong, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Rangpo Thendup Lepcha, accompanied by the Municipal Executive Officer Rangpo Nagar Panchayat and officials from the Sikkim Departments of Fisheries and Forest and police personnel on Wednesday conducted an inspection at the River Teesta belt of Rangpo
subdivision and the River Rangpo belt to assess the situation and ensure the safety of common people in light of the rising water levels of the River Teesta.
The Central Water Commission (CWC)
issued an alert at 1 am on Wednesday due to the rising water levels of the River Teesta, urging people along the basin to remain vigilant.
The alert serves as a reminder for residents to take necessary
precautions and stay away from the river.
An awareness campaign was conducted in the IBM area and Mazigoan Rangpo, using loudspeakers, to instruct the people to stay away from the river, starting from 5 pm onwards.
This proactive measure was aimed to prevent any potential accidents or
mishaps due to the increasing water levels. The Forest Department has also mandated the closure of quarries after 5 pm.
This step has been taken to ensure the safety of workers and to prevent any harm that may be caused by the rising water levels.
The Fisheries Department has already issued a notice forbidding fishing for three months from April 1 to June 30, in view of the mating season and to ensure sustainability.
This measure is critical to maintaining ecological balance and
protecting the the fish population of the river.
Editorial, EOI, 30 May 2024 : For the people of the hills of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim, landslides are of common occurrence. Now in the wake of the devastating landslide in the mountainous Enga province in Papua New Guinea late last week with estimates of the death toll varying between 670 and 2,000 the University of Sydney has offered some explanations as to what causes landslides and if landslides can be predicted to save lives.
As the Papua New Guinea experience has underscored, rescue is challenging in the event of a landslide. Secondary slides and rock falls hamper efforts in the search zone. Because of lack of access, it becomes difficult to move heavy digging machinery to the landslide zone. Roads need to be cleared or repaired for assistance and equipment to arrive. t is difficult to locate potential survivors as landslides carry away buildings and their occupants in an unpredictable manner.
Landslides happen when the pull from gravity exceeds the strength of the geomaterial forming the slope of a hill or mountain. Geomaterials can be as varied as rocks, sand, silt and clays. Then, part of this slope starts sliding downhill. Depending on where the slope fails, the material sliding down can be just a few cubic metres or a few million cubic metres in volume.
But why do slopes fail?
Most natural landslides are triggered by earthquakes or rainfall. Earthquakes shake the ground, stress it and weaken it over time. Rainwater can seep through the ground and soak it and add weight to the slope. The ground is often porous like a sponge.
Another adverse effect of water is erosion, causing slopes to fall. Groundwater can also dissolve rocks within slopes. Human activities also contribute to the chance of landslides. Deforestation has a negative impact on slope stability, as tree roots naturally reinforce the ground and drain water out. Mine blasts produce small earthquake-like ground vibrations that shake slopes nearby. It is difficult to predict and mitigate landslide risk effectively.
The thousands of deadly and costly landslides occurring every year worldwide suggest so. To warn people of a coming landslide, one would need a prediction for earthquakes and rainfall, in addition to a perfect knowledge of the slope-forming geomaterial.
Geomaterials may include multiple, entangled layers of various kinds of rocks and particulate materials, such as sand, silt and clays.
Their strength varies, and their spatial distribution dictates where the slope is likely to fail. To accurately assess the stability of the slope, a three-dimensional mapping of these materials and their strengths is needed. No sensor can provide this information, so geologists and geotechnical engineers must deal with partial information obtained at a few selected locations and extrapolate this data to the rest of the slope.
The weakest link of the chain, such as an existing fracture in a rock mass, is easily missed. This is an inevitable source of uncertainty when trying to predict how much material might slip. It is known that the larger the volume of a landslide, the farther its runout distance. But it is hard to gauge the exact size of a landslide, making predictions of runout distances and safe zones uncertain.
It is always uncertain when a landslide will occur. Mechanical analysis enables one to estimate the vulnerability of a slope in a particular scenario, including earthquake magnitude and distribution of groundwater. But predicting if and when these triggers will happen is a difficult task.
The IMD said respite from the heatwave conditions could be in sight after May 30
PTI, New Delhi, 29.05.24 : Large parts of northern and central India were in the grip of extreme heatwave conditions on Tuesday with the mercury crossing 50 degrees Celsius in Rajasthan’s Churu and Haryana’s Sirsa and settling nine notches above normal in Delhi.
At least three weather stations in Delhi recorded maximum temperatures of 49 degrees Celsius or more. Mungeshpur and Narela in Delhi clocked 49.9 degrees followed by Najafgarh at 49.8 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
This was the highest maximum temperature recorded in the capital this season. However, Mungeshpur and Narela weather stations came up in 2022 and have records only for the last three years.
The IMD said respite from the heatwave conditions could be in sight after May 30.
It said that a fresh western disturbance was expected over parts of northwest India on Thursday which could bring isolated rainfall over the region on the weekend.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra has attributed the heatwave conditions over northwest and central India to the absence of western disturbances during the latter half of May.
Western disturbances are extra-tropical weather systems formed over the Mediterranean Sea that move from the west to the east.
According to the IMD, 10 weather stations recorded the highest-ever maximum temperature and the highest for the month — Agra-Taj (48.6 degrees Celsius), Dehri in Bihar (47 degrees Celsius), Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh (48.2 degrees Celsius), Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh (49 degrees Celsius), Narnaul in Haryana (48.5 degrees Celsius), Ayanagar-Delhi (47.6 degrees Celsius), New Delhi-Ridge (47.5 degrees Celsius), Rewa in Madhya Pradesh (48.2 degrees Celsius), Rohtak in Haryana (48.1 degrees Celsius), and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh (47.2 degrees Celsius).
In some much-needed relief, south Rajasthan districts of Barmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Sirohi and Jalore recorded a drop in temperatures up to four notches on Tuesday due to moist wind incursion from the Arabian Sea, indicating the beginning of abatement of heatwave conditions over northwest India.
Numerical weather prediction models showed that this decreasing trend would further extend northwards, bringing gradual respite from heatwave conditions from May 30 onwards.
Also, the incursion of moist winds from the Bay of Bengal from Wednesday onwards is likely to result in a gradual fall in maximum temperatures over Uttar Pradesh from May 30, the IMD said.
“Today, heatwave to severe heatwave conditions prevailed over most parts of Rajasthan, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, in many parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and in isolated pockets of Bihar and Himachal Pradesh,” it said.
It said that heatwave conditions also prevailed in many places over Vidarbha, in some pockets over Jammu and Kashmir and in isolated pockets of Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh.
Churu in Rajasthan was the hottest place in the country with a maximum temperature of 50.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Sirsa-AWS in Haryana (50.3 degrees Celsius), Mungeshpur and Narela (49.9 degrees Celsius), Najafgarh (49.8 degrees Celsius), Sirsa (49.5 degrees Celsius), Ganganagar in Rajasthan (49.4 degrees Celsius), Pilani and Phalodi in Rajasthan and Jhansi (49 degrees Celsius).
Warm night conditions in isolated pockets are very likely to prevail over Uttar Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi over the next few days, the weather office said.
The scorching heat prompted the Haryana government to advance summer vacations in all state-run and private schools to Tuesday.
The deadly heatwave is testing power grids and leading to water shortages in parts of the country.
According to the Central Water Commission, water storage in 150 major reservoirs in India dropped to just 24 per cent of their live storage last week, exacerbating water shortages in many states and significantly affecting hydropower generation.
The Maharashtra irrigation department said that the water stock in Jayakwadi dam in the drought-prone Marathwada region stood at a mere 5.19 per cent of its capacity on Monday after recording an evaporation loss of 1.15 MCM (million cubic metres) in a single day due to the heat.
The intense heat has already driven India’s power demand to 239.96 gigawatts, the highest so far this season, with air conditioners and coolers in homes and offices running at full capacity.
Experts anticipate that power demand could rise even further and surpass the all-time high of 243.27 GW recorded in September 2023.
Severe heatwaves have impacted a large number of people in parts of India for three consecutive years, affecting health, water availability, agriculture, power generation, and other sectors of the economy.
A bench of Justice C.T. Ravi Kumar and Justice Rajesh Bindal passed the directions while disposing of an appeal filed by the mother of a juvenile challenging the order of a juvenile justice board in Karnataka that her son be tried as an adult in a case relating to rape under the POSCO Act
R. Balaji, TT, New Delhi, 29.05.24 : The Supreme Court has passed a slew of guidelines for courts to follow in cases related to juveniles, particularly on the question of whether the juvenile/child in conflict with the law deserves to be treated as an adult for heinous crimes or under the Juvenile Justice Act.
A bench of Justice C.T. Ravi Kumar and Justice Rajesh Bindal passed the directions while disposing of an appeal filed by the mother of a juvenile challenging the order of a juvenile justice board in Karnataka that her son be tried as an adult in a case relating to rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) Act, 2012.
In view of the discussions, the appeal was disposed of with the following directions:
(i) The provision of Section 14(3) of the act, providing for three months for completion of a preliminary assessment (of the juvenile’s mental status) under Section 15 of the act, is not mandatory. The same is held to be directory. The period can be extended for reasons to be recorded in writing by the chief judicial magistrate or as the case may be the chief metropolitan magistrate.
(ii) The words “children’s court” and “court of sessions” in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and the 2016 rules shall be read interchangeably. Primarily jurisdiction vests in the children’s court.
However, in the absence of constitution of such children’s court in the district, the power to be exercised under the act is vested with the court of sessions.
(iii) Appeal under Section 101(2) of the act against an order of the board passed under Section 15 of the act can be filed within 30 days. The appellate court can entertain the appeal after the expiry of the period, provided sufficient cause is shown. Endeavour has to be made to decide any such appeal filed within 30 days.
(iv) In all the orders passed by the courts, tribunals, boards and the quasi-judicial authorities, the names of the presiding officer and/or the members who sign the orders shall be mentioned. In case any identification number has been given, it can also be added.
(v) The presiding officers and/or members while passing the order shall properly record the presence of the parties and/or their counsels, the purpose for which the matter is being adjourned and the party on whose behalf the adjournment has been sought and granted.
A copy of the judgment will be sent to all the registrar generals of high courts for circulation amongst the judicial officers and the members of the juvenile justice boards, the directors of the National Judicial Academy and the state judicial academies.
The apex court passed the directions after senior advocates Sidharth Luthra and R. Basanth complained that many children’s courts and juvenile justice boards were not following the statutory rules prescribed under the act.
Cong on Rajkot probe
The Congress on Tuesday demanded a probe under the supervision of a sitting Supreme Court or high court judge into the fire at the Rajkot game zone and alleged that the BJP government in Gujarat was “not serious” about taking action in the case.
On May 29, 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary scaled the world’s highest peak for the first time
Darjeeling’s Mall or Chowrasta from where the Tenzing Norgay Hiking Trail will start.: File picture
Binita Paul, TT, Siliguri, 29.05.24 : The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) will introduce a one-day-long hiking trail for adventure enthusiasts and tourists in general in the hilly terrains of Darjeeling on Wednesday to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the Mt. Everest summit.
On May 29, 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary scaled the world’s highest peak for the first time.
S.P. Sharma, the GTA’s chief public relations officer (PRO), said the tourist-friendly one-day trail in Darjeeling had been conceived earlier but was never launched.
“From tomorrow (Wednesday), the trail will be active for tourists. Tenzing Norgay had traversed the route to practise trekking several decades ago,” he said.
Mount Kanchenjungha as seen from Tiger Hill, the last destination of the trail. : File picture
The trail, Sharma said, will start from Chowrasta, the popular promenade in the heart of the hill town, and move through picturesque landscapes and charming villages.
“It will move through the quaint hamlet of Toongsung and people can experience the serenity of Lambadara and immerse themselves in the rich cultural tapestry of Gurung Gaon,” the GTA PRO said.
After Gurung Gaon, tourists will experience the adventure of crossing the Rungdung river.
“As one descends, the trail leads him/her to Rangeyroong, offering panoramic vistas of the majestic Himalayan peaks,” Sharma said.
In the final leg, a tourist or a trekker will move to Gaddikhan while the last destination will be Tiger Hill.
“We would like to invite tourists to experience the legacy of Tenzing Norgay and celebrate the spirit of mountaineering on the Tenzing Norgay Hiking Trail,” he added.
Sources said the hiking trail would be 12km long. “This trail is a moderate challenge and requires around five to six hours of walking at a height of 8,500ft. Along the way, tourists can witness diverse flora and fauna, including rare orchids and vibrant birds,” said a source.
Dawa Gyalpo Sherpa, the coordinator of adventure tourism at the GTA, said: “Trekking is for long trips while day-hiking is a one-day trip. We recommend it for tourists with families. We are also launching a second trail tomorrow (Wednesday),” he said.
Sherpa said the Tibetan Museum, the house of Tenzing Norgay, the Ava Art Gallery and the historic Burdwan Palace (Rajbari) fall along the second trail.
He said tourists could have a tea break at Shiv Eco-Camp before venturing through the serene Arya tea estate where they could check out the process of making the world-famous Darjeeling Tea.
Tourists will also visit the Sidrapong hydro-electrical project, which is recognised as Asia’s first hydroelectric project. From Sidrapong, tourists will drive back to Darjeeling via the Orange Valley tea estate.
“This will be a 10km-long trail with moderate difficulty level. The altitude will be from 6,800 feet to 3,600 feet. This adventure walk offers a unique opportunity to explore the region’s cultural, historical and natural heritage while promoting eco-tourism and sustainable travel practices,” said Sherpa.
Tourism stakeholders said many visitors to Darjeeling would prefer short treks.
“Usually, trekkers head for Sandakphu (the highest point in Bengal). But it takes four to five days to cover the entire route and many couldn’t afford it because of the lack of time and health reasons. They will now have the option to join these shorter treks,” said a tour operator based in Siliguri.
Amitava Banerjee, MP, 28 May 2024, Darjeeling: Ajoy Edwards, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Sabhasad and president Hamro Party, in a letter to Chief Minister Mamata expressed concerns over the fate of areas affected in the October 4, 2023, Teesta flash floods in Kalimpong district with the monsoons fast approaching.
He further urged the Chief Minister for the rehabilitation of the affected families displaced in the flash floods.
“As you are aware, due to the flash flood in the Teesta basin during the intervening night of October 3 and 4, 2023, National Highway 10, other connecting roads, villages, bazaars, bridges, buildings and the Teesta hydropower station have been submerged and washed away.
This has severely affected communication with international borders and the strategic position of Sikkim, as well as the Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts (GTA region). It has been found that 335 houses, including 223 houses in Rangpo, 10 houses in Tarkhola, 3 houses in Mamkhola, 45 houses in Bhalukhola and Malli, 39 houses in Testa Bazar and Teesta Bridge, 9 houses in Galle Khola, 4 houses in Rayang and 2 houses in Bangay have been partly or fully damaged.
At this moment, affected people are residing at various relief camps,” stated the letter. In his letter, Edwards wrote: “With the monsoon season approaching, the hill people are deeply concerned about the fate of the displaced families and individuals who are currently staying in various relief camps.”
He further mentioned that with heavy siltation owing to the flash flood and with the quality of work on riverbank protection, highway (road) protection and other related works concerning the Teesta River may not have been maintained, the National Highway 10, would not be able to bear the brunt of the upcoming monsoon.
“In such an event, the vehicles from Sikkim and also Kalimpong run via Ghoom and Darjeeling. Already our roads are overburdened and are facing serpentine traffic jams.
The Government of West Bengal and Sikkim should coordinate to work out and streamline the traffic flow in case of such eventuality so that traffic can flow smoothly” stated Edwards, talking to the Millennium Post.
“Furthermore, initiatives for relief distribution and rehabilitation aimed at supporting displaced families and individuals affected by the Teesta River disaster should be completed without any delay,” urged the letter.
Edwards has also written to the Chief Minister of Sikkim; Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways; Principal Secretary, GTA and the District Magistrates of Kalimpong and Darjeeling and to the Northeast Frontier Railways.
EOI, DARJEELING, MAY 28, 2024 : Twenty-nine-year-old Tanmoy Kundu, a resident of of Kaliyaganj in the North Dinajpur district of West Bengal, was declared dead in a hospital on Monday after being brought back from Sandakphu.
There are reports that the bodies of two residents of Yuksom in Sikkim were found on Monday at Chewa Bhanjyang. Both Sandakphu and Chewa Bhanjyang are in the Singalila Range. Kundu along with six others went to Sandakphu, standing at an altitude of 3636 metres, a popular tourist spot 61 km from Darjeeling on May 24, it is believed that the two from Sikkim had started their trekking from somewhere at Gochela, also in Sikkim.
T. Basak, one of the friends that had gone with Kundu, said that on their way to Sandakphu they had made a night halt at Tumling and reached Sandakphu the next day. He said they were to return on May 27.
“On the day we were to return, Kundu complained of stomach aches but we did not take it much seriously as he was saying the pain was minor. But after awhile he started to complain of breathing problems which is when we started to get worried.
A tourist in the next room was a doctor who took a look at him and advised us to admit him to the nearest hospital as soon as possible,” said Basak.
“With no medical facilities at Sandakphu or anywhere near, we hurriedly brought Kundu to the Sukhiapokhri hospital where he was declared dead,” he added.
The hospital at Sukhiapokhri is about 39 km from Sandakphu which Basak claimed took them about two and half hours to reach.
The body was brought to Darjeeling late on Monday night with his autopsy done on Tuesday. The results for the cause of death have not yet been announced.
His family members also arrived in Darjeeling late on Tuesday evening and took the body back home in an ambulance.
Gorkhaland Territorial Administrator Adventure Tourism Department Chief Coordinator Dawa Sherpa said:“ The cause of death could be due to Kundu suffering from high-altitude pulmonary oedema.
The problem nowadays is that tourists from other cities go straight to Sandakphu without acclimatizing. It is learnt that Kundu was complaining of headaches and chest pain from the first day. These are the symptoms of altitude sickness.
”Sherpa said that such sickness was seen among people when they were above 9000 feet whereas Sandakhpu stood at a height of 12,000 feet. “In such cases the only solution is making the person descend to a lower altitude as soon as such symptoms are shown,” said Sherpa.
He also claimed that in Sandakphu there were some trained staff in medical emergencies with oxygen who had managed to save a lady from Bangladesh last week when she complained of similar symptoms.
Speaking about the two bodies also found, Sherpa said: “Two bodies were found by the SSB at Chewa Bhanjyang yesterday in a separate incident. Like Sandakphu, that area also falls in the Singalila Range.
This range starts from Sandakhpu and ends at Chaurikhang in Sikkim which connects to the famous trekking route Gochela. The two could have probably trekked from somewhere there till where the body was found.
The cause of their death is yet not known.”Speaking about preparations at Sandakphu for such emergencies, the GTA tourism department’s chief coordinator said that they had opened an information centre at Manebhanjyang to make tourists aware of many things they should take care of while visiting the area.
He said that tourists however did not make it a point to visit it and straightaway headed to Sandakhpu.
“We are also planning to have a meeting with our higher ups to decide on tourists wanting to go to Sandakhpu being asked to submit a medical certificate. We want to see if they are fit to go there or not, so such things do not happen,” he said
According to the news published by Sikkim News 24, the bodies of the individuals found deceased in Singalila National Park have been identified and transported down the hills for post-mortem examination in Gangtok. The deceased have been confirmed as Puran Gurung, a tourist guide and resident of Yuksam in the Geyzing district, and Sabita Subba, a resident of Tikjek, Geyzing.
According to information from locals, they trekked the Gochala route, stayed at a homestay in the north, and then visited Singalila National Park on May 19. It is suspected that they were struck by lightning, a hazard common in the region.
Even as the impact of Cyclone Remal’s landfall started subsiding, parts of West Bengal, including Kolkata, continued to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Monday.
Cyclone Remal impact: Widespread rainfall, red alert in two districts: Cyclone (Photo:IANS)
IANS | Kolkata | May 28, 2024 : Even as the impact of Cyclone Remal’s landfall started subsiding, parts of West Bengal, including Kolkata, continued to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Monday.
On the basis of predictions, a red alert continued to be in place in two adjacent districts in south Bengal — Nadia and Murshidabad. The weather office has also predicted the wind speed to be high in these two districts.
Similarly, orange alert continued in eight districts — Kolkata, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, West Burdwan, East Burdwan, Birbhum, Howrah and Hooghly. There are predictions of heavy rainfall in these districts.
All these districts are located in south Bengal.
However, at the same time, the weather office has given some good news about the further weakening of Remal, which has already lost much of its strength and has converted into a cyclonic storm in the latter part of the day.
The more it weakens in the day, the more the weather conditions in the state will improve accordingly but gradually. As per forecasts, the possibility of heavy rainfall since Tuesday morning is minimal.
In Kolkata, scattered rainfall was witnessed since Monday morning, and the wind speed was more or less normal.
With train services in the south division of Sealdah and flight services at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport having resumed after being suspended for a long time, city life started springing back to normalcy.
However, train service was disrupted at Kolkata Metro on Monday morning following waterlogging at the tracks in certain places.
The India Meteorological Department on Monday informed that the Cyclonic Storm ‘Remal’ over Coastal Bangladesh and adjoining Coastal West Bengal moved nearly northwards, with a speed of 15 kilometres per hour.
“Severe cyclonic storm Remal over Coastal Bangladesh and adjoining Coastal West Bengal weakened into a cyclonic storm at 0530 p.m. on 27 May about 70 km northeast of Canning and 30 km west-southwest of Mongla. The system is likely to gradually weaken further,” IMD posted on X earlier.
Following the landfall of cyclonic storm Remal, waterlogging was witnessed in parts of Kolkata with heavy rain.
The IMD earlier informed that the storm Remal would continue to move nearly northwards for some more time and then north-northeastwards and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm.
In Memary of East Bardhaman district a father and his son were electrocuted when they touched a banana tree connected with a live wire at their village Kalanabagram. In another case of electrocution, a 47-year-old man died on Raja Road in Panihati in North 24-Parganas this morning when he touched a live wire snapped during the cyclone and was found lying on the road.
The relentless heavy rain is hampering these operations in most of the affected areas in Hingalganj, Frazerganj, Jharkhali, Bakkhali etc. The state government has initiated relief operations, providing food, drinking water and medical assistance to the people affected.
At least seven people died across south Bengal, including a father in Entally, hit by a falling piece of cornice as he stepped out to look for his son, who was at a friend’s place to watch the IPL final
Overhead cables being restored on a waterlogged Camac Street on Monday after Cyclone Remal had caused widespread destruction in the city: Bishwarup Dutta.
Debraj Mitra, TT, Calcutta, 28.05.24 :
Cyclone Remal struck Calcutta at 91km an hour and brought up to 260mm of rain in 24 hours.
If you are wondering how much 260mm of rain means, here is a sample. Data from over 30 years say the average rainfall that Calcutta receives in May is around 120mm. In Calcutta’s rainiest month, July, the average monthly rainfall is around 370mm.
The downpour triggered a deluge and the gusts of wind brought down over 400 trees in just Calcutta and its neighbourhood.
At least seven people died across south Bengal, including a father in Entally, hit by a falling piece of cornice as he stepped out to look for his son, who was at a friend’s place to watch the IPL final.
A father and son died of electrocution in Memari, East Burdwan. An 80-year-old woman died inside her home on Mousuni Island in South-24 Parganas when a tree crashed on the house. Two more died of electrocution, at Panihati in North 24-Parganas and Maheshtala in South 24-Parganas. The seventh death was reported from Haldia.
Many parts of Calcutta faced power cuts between Sunday night and the early hours of Monday as the rain and winds peaked.
Metro services were crippled till Monday afternoon as the overnight rain flooded Park Street and Esplanade stations.
Remal started making landfall — as a severe cyclonic storm — in the Sunderbans in Bangladesh around 8.30pm on Sunday. The storm was around 25km from the tip of the Indian Sunderbans, 110km from Canning and approximately 140km from Calcutta. The Sunderbans are spread over roughly 10,000sqkm, of which around 4,000sqkm are in India and the rest in Bangladesh.
Coordinates shared by the Met office suggest the point of landfall was Mandarbaria, a coastal pocket in Satkhira district of Bangladesh. It is 130km south-southwest of Mongla port in Bagerhat district of Bangladesh.
The core of the storm entered land between 10.30pm on Sunday and 12.30am on Monday, unleashing winds at 110kmph to 120kmph, with gusts clocking 135kmph.
The raging winds, storm surge and blinding rain breached several embankments and flattened homes, poles and trees in the coastal pockets of South-24 Parganas and North-24 Parganas.
A tree uprooted on Cathedral Road near the Birla Planetarium on Monday afternoon.: Bishwarup Dutta
By Monday morning, Remal had weakened from a severe cyclonic storm to a cyclone. The northward movement brought it closer to south Bengal and, around 5.30am, it was 70km northeast of Canning. Around 8.30am, Remal was 90km east of Calcutta, the closest it came to the city.
“By then, it had weakened into a cyclone. The maximum impact in Calcutta and neighbouring areas was between 11.30pm and 4.30am, when it was a severe cyclonic storm,” said H.R. Biswas, head of the weather section at the Regional Meteorological Centre, Calcutta.
The Met office recorded a maximum wind speed of 74kmph in Alipore around 12.45am. In Dum Dum, the maximum recorded wind speed was 91kmph around 12.15am.
Between 1pm on Sunday and 1pm on Monday, Ballygunge received 264mm of rain, Taratala got 206mm and Behala recorded 204mm, according to the readings at the booster pumping stations of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
The Met office recorded 190mm of rain in Alipore between 8.30pm on Sunday and 8.30pm on Monday. Alipore serves as the official record keeper for Calcutta. When Cyclone Amphan struck Calcutta on May 20, 2020, Alipore recorded 250mm of rain and windspeeds of over 100km an hour for several hours. Amphan had made landfall on Sagar Island, around 100km from Calcutta.
The rain brought by Remal continued well into Monday. The effect was visible in the fallen trees and branches, tilted poles and roads with knee-deep water.
Cyclone Remal is likely to move north-northeastwards and gradually weaken further into a deep depression by Tuesday morning.
The rain in Calcutta subsided in the evening, with the system around 150km from the city around 7.30pm.
The weather in Calcutta is likely to improve on Tuesday morning. But north Bengal is going to get drenched as the remnants of Remal move northeast. “On Tuesday, heavy (60mm and more) to very heavy rainfall (120mm and more) is likely in the districts of Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar. Heavy rain is likely in Darjeeling and Kalimpong,” said Somenath Dutta, deputy director-general at the India Meteorological Department, Calcutta. Scattered rainfall is expected in south Bengal, he added.
EOI, DARJEELING, MAY 27, 2024 : The civic body in Darjeeling on Monday formed a committee to keep vigil on people dumping their garbage in areas outside those which had been allocated for the dumping of garbage at the stipulated time. Violations may result in penalty on the defaulters.
This step by the Darjeeling Municipality has been taken because some residents of Darjeeling are in the habit of throwing their garbage throughout the day. The conservancy department staff collect wastes and garbage on a daily basis from residential houses and shops, but only at a stipulated time. .
Darjeeling Municipality, conservancy department In-charge Nitesh Gurung said: “An order was issued by the Municipality chairman today that as per the meeting held on May 3 there will be three teams made for the purpose of inspection of all hotels, restaurants and areas in the municipal area. These three teams have been made to check if the waste and garbage being disposed of by them are being done properly or not.
They will also check if the local people are disposing garbage at the proper time or not and in the proper place.
”“We have made a schedule for the hotels, restaurants and the local people to dispose of their garbage. People can only dispose of their garbage after seven in the evening till five in the morning in the respective allocated place in their area. If we find the people are not throwing their garbage in the allotted time and in the proper place then a penalty will be issued on them,” he added.
Gurung said people caught not following these rules would be fined on the spot to the tune of Rs 500 to Rs 1000. He said that the new rules also applied to the tourists who would behanded over seizure list and fined on the spot, if they were found littering wastes. “As far as the tourists are concerned, they will not know about the rules here so we are making a brochure ready which will be handed to them indifferent places, informing them about the do’s and don’ts,” he said.
“At present we are seeing that as soon as the municipality collects the garbage from different areas then people go and dispose of their garbage there. It gives the wrong impression that the civic body is not doing their work,” he said, adding that they have also received videos showing people throwing garbage soon after their waste collection vehicles have collect the wastes.
The civic body had removed garbage vats from most places in the recent past in an effort to minimize waste being thrown there as people used to throw garbage all around the vat area, making the whole area filled with garbage.
The civic body had the vats replaced with dustbins along with the introduction of a door-to-door collection of garbage.
However, what is being seen at present is people throwing more garbage than the dustbins can hold, making the area look filthy while in some areas the dustbins are missing.“ This is also to do with the mentality of the people. The civic body is doing its work, but the people should also be conscious and think that it is their Darjeeling and it is also their duty and responsibility to keep it clean. Everyone should be involved in keeping Darjeeling clean,” said Gurung.
Flight and suburban rail services resume after temporary suspension
PTI, Kolkata, May 27, 2024 : Nearly 15,000 houses in 24 blocks and 79 municipal wards, mostly in the southern coastal areas of West Bengal, were affected by Cyclone Remal, a senior official of the state government said on Monday.
At least 2,140 trees were uprooted in different parts of the state which also witnessed the falling of 337 electric poles, he added. According to the initial evaluation, at least 14,941 houses were damaged, out of which 13,938 were partially affected while 1,003 were destroyed, he said.
“The figures will probably increase after another round of evaluation. Our officials in the districts are working and the process of evaluation is still on. The estimation of the damage is being calculated,” the official told newspersons.
The administration had shifted 2,07,060 people to the 1,438 safe shelters, he said, adding that at the moment there are 77,288 people.
“There are 341 gruel kitchens being operated at the moment. We have distributed 17,738 tarpaulin to the affected people in the coastal and low-lying areas,” he said. The affected areas included Kakdwip, Namkhana, Sagard Island, Diamond Harbour, Fraserganj, Bakkhali and Mandarmani.
At least three persons were killed in West Bengal and its coastal areas suffered extensive damage to infrastructure and property, as Cyclone Remal tore through the state and neighbouring Bangladesh with winds speeds reaching 135 km per hour, officials said. One person died and two others were injured in Kolkata following heavy rain triggered by Cyclone Remal that pummelled the coasts of West Bengal and neighbouring Bangladesh with devastating wind speeds, officials said on Monday.
A man died of his injuries when a wall collapsed due to relentless downpour on Sunday at the Bibir Bagan area of Entally in central Kolkata, a state disaster management official said. Two others suffered injuries in Maniktala area after the cyclone struck, though the exact cause is yet to be known, he said.
Kolkata recorded 150-mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8.30 am, while neighbouring Salt Lake received 110-mm rain during the period. Tarakeswar in Hooghly received the highest amount of rainfall in south Bengal at 300 mm, the Met office said. Vehicular traffic movement was disrupted in several pockets of Kolkata since Monday morning, the first working day of the week, as trees lay uprooted and streets overflowed with water on account of the incessant rain the cyclonic system brought over the city. Reports of uprooting of trees were received from Southern Avenue, Lake Place, Chetla, D L Khan Road, Dufferin Road, Ballygunge Road, New Alipore, Behala, Jadavpur, Golpark, Hatibagan, Jagat Mukherjee Park and College Street, as well as the city’s adjoining Salt Lake area, the officials said.
Around 68 trees were uprooted in Kolkata, and another 75 in nearby Salt Lake and Rajarhat area. “Water-logging was reported from various places including Southern Avenue, Lake View Road, Pratapaditya Road, Tollygunge Phari, Alipore and Central Avenue, resulting in traffic diversion,” a senior officer of Kolkata Traffic Police said.
Major arterial roads like Central Avenue and College Street in central Kolkata and pockets of Ballygunge, Dhakuria and Behala in the south continued to remain waterlogged during the later part of the day as well.
Meanwhile, train services in the Sealdah South section of Eastern Railway resumed at 9 am after remaining suspended for three hours in the morning, an ER official said.
Flight services from the Kolkata airport also resumed on Monday morning after being suspended for 21 hours in view of the cyclone, a senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said. Metro Railway services in the north-south corridor were disrupted in parts for four-and-a-half hours on Monday morning.
Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said the municipal corporation was trying to address the situation on war footing. “The situation is not that worse compared to what it was when Cyclone Amphan hit.
The trees are being removed to make way for traffic. The drainage pumps are also operating at full strength,” Hakim told PTI. Salt Lake Mayor Krishna Chakraborty said the uprooted trees have been removed and roads are clear for traffic movement.
Meanwhile, Governor C V Ananda Bose said in a message issued by the Raj Bhavan:
“We are all greatly relieved that no reported casualty is there. Cyclone Remal is weakening. The people of Bengal are able to brave it with courage. We are keeping a watch on the situation. If there is any need, Raj Bhavan’s doors are open for all.”
The Governor has also constituted a task force at the Raj Bhavan.
KalimNews, Kalimpong, 27 May 2024 : In a heart-wrenching incident today at approximately 11:45 AM, a small passenger vehicle with registration number SK04J 0916 collided with a truck bearing registration number SK02D 0732 at Tar Khola 10th Mile of West Bengal under Kalimpong Police Station.
The small passenger vehicle Bolero was en route to Gangtok Sikkim from Jorethang when the collision transpired, resulting in ten passengers sustaining injuries. The injured were promptly transported to Rangpo Sikkim Hospital for urgent medical attention.
Amidst the chaos and rescue efforts, one passenger succumbed to their injuries. The deceased has been identified as Subash Pradhan, aged 38, son of Bhanu Kumar Pradhan, hailing from Tharpu, Mansara, Ratopani of West Sikkim. The driver of the Bolero along with other three seriously injured are referred to Singtam district Hospital.
This tragic incident has sent shockwaves through the community, leaving many in mourning and praying for the swift recovery of those injured.
Authorities are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the collision to determine the root cause and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
While several pockets of Calcutta remained waterlogged on the morning of the first working day of the week, suburban train services from the Sealdah terminal station remained partially suspended for at least three hours, adding to commuters’ woes, before operations limped back to normal
Commuters wade through a waterlogged road amid rains in the aftermath of Cyclone Remal’s landfall, in Calcutta, Monday, May 27, 2024.: PTI
PTI, Calcutta, 27.05.24 : At least two persons died in West Bengal and its coastal areas suffered extensive damage to infrastructure and property, as Cyclone Remal tore through the state and neighbouring Bangladesh with winds speeds reaching 135 km per hour, officials said Monday. A man died of his injuries when a wall collapsed due to the relentless downpour on Sunday evening at the Bibir Bagan area of Entally in Central Calcutta, a state disaster management official said.
An eldery woman in the Mousuni Island near Namkhana adjacent to the Sunderbans delta also succumbed to injuries on Monday morning, following a tree collapse on her hut that resulted in the roof caving in, the official said.
After tearing through the coasts of Bangladesh and West Bengal, Cyclone Remal left a trail of destruction with pictures of devastation becoming evident across the state’s coastal areas, with extensive damage to infrastructure and property, soon after daybreak on Monday.
Roofs of thatched huts were blown away, uprooted trees blocked roads in Calcutta as well as in the coastal districts, and electricity poles were knocked down causing significant power disruption in various parts of the state, including in the city’s outskirts, the officials said.
While several pockets of Calcutta remained waterlogged on the morning of the first working day of the week, suburban train services from the Sealdah terminal station remained partially suspended for at least three hours, adding to commuters’ woes, before operations limped back to normal.
A commuter at a railway station during rain in the aftermath of Cyclone Remal’s landfall, in Calcutta, Monday, May 27, 2024.: PTI
Flight services at the Calcutta airport resumed on Monday morning after remaining suspended for 21 hours in view of Cyclone Remal. Airport sources, however, said it will take some more time for the situation to become normal.
The cyclone ravaged adjacent coasts of the state and Bangladesh between Sagar Island and Khepupara, near the southwest of Mongla in the neighbouring country, after its landfall process began at 8.30 pm on Sunday and lasted for a good four hours.
In a later update, the Met office said ‘Remal’ weakened into a cyclonic storm at 5:30 am on Monday, about 70 km northeast of Canning and 30 km west-southwest of Mongla. The system is likely to gradually weaken further.
Efforts to restore normalcy are underway, with emergency services working to clear debris and restore power in the affected areas.
However, the relentless heavy rain is hampering these operations in most of the affected areas, the officials said.
The state government has initiated relief operations, providing food, drinking water and medical assistance to the people affected.
The authorities have urged residents to remain indoors and take necessary precaution till the heavy rain persists.
Calcutta recorded a rainfall of 146 mm in the period between 8.30 am on Sunday and 5.30 am on Monday, the weatherman said.
The metropolis logged a maximum wind speed of 74 kmph, while Dum Dum in the northern outskirts of the city recorded maximum wind speed of 91 kmph, the weather office said.
Several areas of Calcutta remained waterlogged, compounding the misery of the affected residents. Streets in significant pockets of Ballygunge, Park Circus, Dhakuria and Alipore in South Calcutta, Behala in the West and College Street, Thanthania Kali Bari, CR Avenue and Sinthi in the North remained inundated till late in the day.
Reports indicated that trees were uprooted in several areas, including Southern Avenue, Lake Place, Chetla, D L Khan Road, Dufferin Road, Ballygunge Road, New Alipore, Behala, Jadavpur, Golpark, Hatibagan, Jagat Mukherjee Park, College Street, and the adjoining Salt Lake area.
Around 68 trees were uprooted in Calcutta, with an additional 75 trees downed in the nearby Salt Lake and Rajarhat areas.
The cyclone caused rainfall with strong winds in areas such as Digha, Kakdwip and Jaynagar, which intensified on Monday morning.
Other places in south Bengal which received heavy rainfall during the period are Haldia (110 mm), Tamluk (70 mm) and Nimpith (70 mm), the Met office said.
The storm and accompanying heavy rain flooded homes and farmlands. In some regions, salt water from the adjoining Bay of Bengal breached embankments and gushed into farmlands, damaging crops.
The West Bengal government evacuated more than one lakh people from vulnerable areas ahead of the cyclone’s landfall.
The North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts reported widespread damage. News footage from the coastal resort town of Digha showed tidal waves crashing into a seawall, with surging waters sweeping fishing boats inland and inundating mud-and-thatch houses and farmlands.
People during a storm at the Bakkhali beach in the aftermath of Cyclone Remal’s landfall, in South 24 Parganas, Monday, May 27, 2024.: PTI
The weatherman has forecast more rain in Calcutta and the southern districts including Nadia and Murshidabad, with one or two spells of intense downpour, along with gusty surface winds till Tuesday morning.
State Power Minister Aroop Biswas said the disruptions and damage to the power supply infrastructure caused by Cyclone Remal will be addressed soon.
He noted that there had been one or two incidents of power outages in the CESC area, due to fallen trees.
A total of 14 National Disaster Response Force teams were deployed for relief and restoration work across districts in south Bengal, including Calcutta, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly.
Relief materials, including dry food and tarpaulins, have been dispatched to the coastal areas and quick response teams comprising trained civil defence volunteers and equipped vehicles are in place, the officials said.
In the Terai belt, elephant herds come out of forests located in Bagdogra and Naxalbari areas in search of fodder. The animals cross the four-lane highway and the railway tracks that connect Siliguri Junction with Naxalbari to move into tea gardens and villages for fodder
Wild elephants cross the railway tracks near Bagdogra.: File picture
TT, Jalpaiguri, 27.05.24 : The Kurseong forest division of the state forest department has installed CCTV cameras across various locations of Siliguri subdivision to monitor the movement of elephants in rural areas under its ambit, on railway tracks and Asian Highway-II.
Elephant herds regularly walk up to the highway that connects Panitanki (at the India-Nepal border) with Fulbari (at the India-Bangladesh border).
“The cameras have been installed to track the movement of elephants and other wild animals in some parts of Kurseong forest division. In due course, such a mechanism will be introduced in other forest areas,” said Bhaskar J.V., the chief conservator of forests (wildlife), north Bengal.
In the Terai belt, elephant herds come out of forests located in Bagdogra and Naxalbari areas in search of fodder. The animals cross the four-lane highway and the railway tracks that connect Siliguri Junction with Naxalbari to move into tea gardens and villages for fodder.
“Over the past few years, incidents of elephant depredation have increased in Siliguri subdivision. Elephants have even moved into far-flung areas like Kharibari block. The installation of CCTV cameras along elephant corridors will help to check such incidents,” said Animesh Bose, a wildlife conservationist based in Siliguri.
The herds, which move out of forests of Bagdogra forest range, amble on the highway and enter human habitats like Ghoshpukur, Tukuriajhar, Uttamchand Chat and tea estates like Kiran Chandra and Atal.
“Because of elephant movements, traffic often gets halted on the highway. Also, there had been incidents of crop and property damage and even human casualty,” said a source.
With the CCTV cameras in place now, foresters can now have an idea about the movement of elephants from the control room opened at the range office in Bagdogra.
Along with the CCTV cameras, the department has also introduced the wireless radio telecommunication system in six forest ranges of the division to share information for prompt intervention.
The ranges are Bamanpokhri, Panighata, Bagdogra, Tukuriajhar, Ghoshpukur and the elephant squad at Taipoo.
“Usually, it takes 35 to 40 minutes for an elephant herd to reach the Asian Highway from the forests. Once their movement is tracked, all the range offices and our vehicles at these ranges can be informed of necessary steps,” said Bhupesh Biswakarma, the additional divisional forest officer of Kurseong.
The technology, he said, will be effective in curbing man-elephant conflicts. “The communication system will work even in locations without cell phone connectivity,” the forester added.
Elephant corridors apart, CCTV cameras have also been put up in Tipukhola, a popular ecotourism spot, and the Junglee Baba temple area where hundreds of people visit every day.
“For the safety of the visitors, the CCTV cameras will help us act promptly if elephants enter these locations,” Biswakarma added.
In a letter to Mamata, the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW), which is affiliated with Intuc, has said that workers of several tea estates of the Terai and the Dooars are not getting work for six days every week because of low yield in plantations hit by inclement weather
Tea workers at a garden in the Siliguri plains.: File picture
TT, Siliguri, 27.05.24 : The distress in north Bengal tea industry has prompted a leading tea trade union to write to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking jobs for tea workers under the 100 days’ work (MGNREGS) scheme.
In a letter to Mamata, the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW), which is affiliated with Intuc, has said that workers of several tea estates of the Terai and the Dooars are not getting work for six days every week because of low yield in plantations hit by inclement weather.
Mani Kumar Darnal, the NUPW general secretary who sent the letter to Mamata, said several tea companies these days were engaging less number of workers every week.
“Workers are losing out on wages because of the ‘no work, no pay’ system. Many tea workers are the sole breadwinners in their families. That is why we have written to the chief minister to provide jobs under MGNREGS for workers so that they can at least this loss in their earnings can be compensated,” said Darnal.
Over three lakh workers serve in the tea estates of north Bengal.
As of now, a tea worker in Bengal earns ₹250 per day. Under the MGNREGS, the daily wage rate, after the Centre’s revision in March this year, is the same.
In his letter, Darnal said that the Bengal government should create one manday per hectare of tea plantation.
A trade union leader explained it. “This means that if a garden has 1,000 hectares of plantation area, 1,000 mandays (optimally) can be created. Tea workers can work under the scheme on rotation, which means a worker who has not been engaged in the garden today can work under the MGNREGS, and tomorrow, another worker can replace him depending on the situation. This will eventually help workers earn roughly the same amount every month,” the trade union leader said.
Jobs like land development, micro and minor irrigation work, watershed management and drainage, which are stipulated under the scheme, can begin in tea gardens, he said.
In the letter, NUPW leader Darnal also said that the state government could mull over the proposal of providing jobs to one member of every family or household in a tea estate.
“As tea leaf production is low now, tea companies are in distress and cannot provide regular jobs to workers. Hence, if every household in the garden has a job card, they can tide over this crisis,” said Darnal.
Trinamool leaders, when told about the letter, said that the BJP-led Centre had stopped providing funds to Bengal for the 100 days’ job scheme.
“That is why the state government used its own funds to clear the dues of those who worked under the scheme but didn’t get their wages,” said a TMC leader based in Alipurduar, a district with over 60 tea estates.
The NUPW leaders, however, said that the Mamata Banerjee government has introduced Karmashree, a scheme to provide 50 days’ work to people. “At this time of crisis, this scheme can be extended to tea gardens,” one of them said.
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