Kamal Guha cremated

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 7: The last rites of Kamal Guha were performed today at Bara-nachina cremation ground in Dinhata. His son, Mr Udayan Guha performed the Mukhagni ritual at 4-15 p.m. in presence of other family members and numerous Forward Bloc supporters.

 

Dinhata is the town where Kamal Guha born 79 years ago. Though he was accepted as a state level leader he always preferred Dinhata as his main place of activity. And so, as expected, the normal life of the town almost collapsed today when his body was carried back from Cooch Behar. Many were found with folded hands and tears rolling down their cheeks. Late Guha was a father like man to them. Crossing all barriers of political beliefs hundreds of people thronged to pay homage to the late leader.

 

Earlier, numerous followers of Forward Bloc and the party's leaders from all spheres gathered at Netaji Bhavan (Forward Bloc's Cooch Behar district office) in Cooch Behar this morning to pay their last homage to their undisputed leader. Leaders of other parties too rushed with flowers bouquets to show their respect to the leader who died in a private nursing home in Cooch Behar on yesterday afternoon. Forward Bloc's all-India general secretary Mr Debabrata Biswas, ministers and MLAs were also present there with broken hearts.

 

The body of Kamal Guha was carried to Regional Cancer Centre at Binpatti in Cooch Behar this morning. This RCC was established in his initiative and it is one of his numerous contributions to the people of Cooch Behar. Later his body was kept at Netaji Bhavan upto 10 p.m. to facilitate mourners to pay respect to him. From there his body was carried to his hometown Dinhata by a large motorcade. He was shifted from Dinhata on 24 July to Cooch Behar in a serious condition and today his lifeless body returned there.

 

At Dinhata : Soon after spreading of his death news on yesterday afternoon the Dinhata town wore a bandh like look. Earlier, rumour of his death shocked the citizens several times from Sunday night to yesterday noon. The rumour stopped after his surrender to death on yesterday afternoon. From this morning Dinhata town wore a total bandh like look and it was spontaneous. Hundreds of people, not only from the town but also from adjacent villages, thronged to the town to get a last glance of their leader and to pay respect to him.

 

His body was taken to Dinhata FB office and then to his home and after a procession that toured different roads in Dinhata town the body was taken to Bara-nachina cremation ground. Efforts were taken to do everything according to pre-planned schedule because he was famous for his punctuality. Because, he strictly believed that Dashtaa maane naytaa-shaat' (10-o'clock was 9-and-60-minutes to him). []

 

Cooch Behar Airport

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 7: Cooch Behar Airport is getting ready for resuming of air service from Independence Day. In a bid to make the plan successful the Airport Authority of India is working hard to keep their promise.

 

Additional District Magistrate (Development) Mr Pannalal Mahapatra said the Regional Director (East) of Airport Authority of India Mr SP Bakshi is supervising and gearing up the work so that a trial flight could be conducted on 10 August. A special aircraft of Indian Airlines meant for such purpose may be pressed into the test flight.

 

Meanwhile, all necessary arrangements are being provided at the airport here. The passenger lounge is being fitted with air conditioner. Work to introduce all sorts of lighting and other facilities are going on in war footing, Mr Mahapatra said. Earlier, the length of the runway of the airport was extended by 60-metre to make it 1117-metre.

 

The ADM (G) said that there were proposals from Air Deccan, Alliance Air and Kingfisher for conducting flights through Cooch Behar Airport. The matter may be finalised within a day or two about the operator, he said. []

  

Trainee teachers on warpath

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 7: Members of North Bengal unit of All Bengal Primary Teachers' Trainee Association (ABPTTA) staged a roadblock at Harish Pal Choupathi in Cooch Behar town today. They were insisting on appearance of the chairman of District Primary School Council (DPSC) to promise them about fulfilment of their demands. But police lifted them from the site to clear the traffic movement that was disrupted due to the roadblock.

 

Later, the ABPTTA members gheraoed the office of the DPSC at Cooch Behar. They demanded speedy appointment of trained teachers in primary schools, settlement of the cases pending over the fate of Primary Teachers' Training Institutes, arrangement of examinations for the trainees of 2005-2006 academic session and announcement of the final date for clearing of all disputes. The DPSC chairman, Md Nuruddin Mian assured them that he would do his best take up the matter with appropriate authorities.

 

ABPTTA president Mr Bhajan Barman said they would no longer wait with dry assurances. The authorities should come up to do something for these trainee teachers. He warned that they would start fast-unto-death programme at Kolkata if the authorities fail to meet their demands by 30 August. []

Kamal Guha passes away

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 06: The veteran Forward Bloc leader Kamal Guha breathed his last today at 5-15 p.m. at Shila Nursing Home in Cooch Behar today.

 

Guha's physical condition turned serious on 1 August night. He was in a private nursing home in Cooch Behar. A three-member team from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital examined him on 2 August. Following state chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's instruction an expert team of four medical professionals from SSKM Hospital in Kolkata examined him on Friday.

 

The physical condition of veteran Forward Bloc leader Kamal Guha was not good for the past few days. His heart, kidneys and lungs were not functioning well. The doctors were keeping a constant watch on his condition round-the-clock under guidance of Dr Subhas Saha at the private nursing home in Cooch Behar. Guha's family physician Dr Bidyut Kamal Saha said the overall condition of the octogenarian leader was not good but it was observed that his brain was functioning till last night. He was recognising family members and other visitors and was answering attending doctors' questions by nodding his head.

 

Today his condition deteriorated and he breathed his last at 5-15 p.m. His son Mr Udayan Guha was present by his bed at the last moment. State food and supply minister Mr Paresh Adhikary and Cooch Behar (North) MLA Mr Dipak Sarkar were found at a loss by his body this evening. []

 

Kamal Guha

 

Born at Dinhata on 20 January 1928. Passed Matriculation from Dinhata High School where former president of Bangladesh, Hussain Mohammad Ershad was his classmate. Passed IA from Victoria College (now ABN Seal College) in Cooch Behar.

He was a staunch follower of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's thoughts since school life.

Kamal Guha started contesting in the Assembly elections as a Forward Bloc candidate from his home constituency Dinhata from 1957. He won in 1962 and 1967. Since 1977 he won in all elections and was included in the state cabinet of ministers as the agricultural minister.

In 1992 he was expelled from Forward Bloc following differences with party leadership over Tinbigha corridor handover issue. Then he formed Forward Bloc (Socialist) and won against Left Front candidate in Dinhata. After about seven years Mr Guha came back to the parent party winding up his FB (S). In the last Assembly election he left the candidature of Dinhata seat and tried to establish his son Mr Udayan Guha in that place but the latter failed to retain the seat.

Till his death he was the chairman of the party's Bangla Committee. He was to complete his eighty years in January 2008. []

Kshiti lays foundation of two bridges

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 6: State public works minister Mr Kshiti Goswami laid foundation of a new 130-metre long bridge over Sutunga river at Mathabhanga yesterday. Mr Goswami hoped that the bridge might be opened for use within two years. The new concrete bridge will replace the old and damaged wooden bridge. He said public works department felt it necessary to replace the old wooden bridges in Cooch Behar district made in the regime of Maharajas with concrete bridges because the population and flow of traffic movement have increased rapidly.

 

Chairman of Mathabhanga Municipality Mr Arun Chaudhury said about 2.5-lakh people of Mathabhanga town, Sitalkuchi block, Sitai block, Mathabhanga-I and Mathabhanga-II blocks will be benefited with the Sutunga bridge. Though there was a bridge over Sutunga river an additional one was necessary to meet the growing traffic movement, Mr Chaudhury said.

 

In the inaugural ceremony the PWD minister admitted the necessity of bridges over Singimari river at Adabari to connect Dinhata and Sitai and another over Teesta river to connect Mekhliganj and Haldibari. At the same time he said that it is not possible for the state government alone to construct these two bridges because a huge sum of money will be required to complete the job.

 

Though the estimated cost to construct the Sutunga bridge was not disclosed it was learnt that the height of the bridge is yet to be fixed. A few constructions including some residences will have to be removed prior to construct the bridge at the proposed site. The total project cost will be estimated after examining all aspects, PWD sources said.

 

Three ministers - Mr Ananta Roy, Mr Paresh Adhikary and Mr Manohar Tirkey, Cooch Behar MP (Lok Sabha) Mr Hiten Barman, Sitalkuchi MLA Mr Harish Barman and Mathabhanga Municipality chairman Mr Arun Chaudhury also spoke on the occasion.

 

The PWD minister also laid foundation of a road bridge over Kaljani river at Balarampur yesterday. The bridge will be able to connect Dinhata and Tufanganj sub-divisions through Chilakhana. []

An act of bravery and humanity

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 5: A 17-year-old Bangladeshi boy named Asidul Mohammad Islam fell down in Dharla river on the Bangladesh side during the recent flood in this region. He is a mentally retarded boy. Seeing him in danger his parents, Yusuf Ali and Hamida Bibi too jumped into the river to save him. But due to high water waves and current in the river they were floated away into Indian territory under Dinhata sub-division near Border Pillar No. 881/9-S.

 

It may be recalled that during the recent floods the Dharla river had turned into a fearsome river. Its level have risen about 10-feet in some areas under Maheshmari border outpost in the duty area of 13 Bn BSF.

 

Seeing the three drowning, two BSF jawans on duty – Constable Shivpal Singh and Constable Sangram Singh – dived into the river water and rescued all the three. They brought the rescued three Bangladeshi nationals on Indian side of Dharla river. On that evening, taking permission from the Battalion Headquarter concerned, the Company Commander of Mahesmari, Subedar Puran Singh handed over them to his counterpart in Bangladesh Rifles, the Company Commander of Navi Nagar, through a flag meeting. A senior BSF official of Cooch Behar Sector hoped that the act of BSF would strengthen the friendly relation and brotherhood between the two border guarding forces of two neighbouring countries. []

 

Watchtower adds attraction of Rasamati

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 5: State forest minister Mr Ananta Roy inaugurated a new watchtower at Rasamati Jhil tourist-spot yesterday to make the tourist-spot more attractive to the tourists and visitors. The Rasamati Jhil tourist spot was launched in last year to lure the picnickers and tourists who like to visit the beauty of nature especially during monsoon. Now the 56-feet watchtower is going to make it more attractive believes the forest minister. Noteworthy, It is the highest watchtower of forest department in north Bengal.

 

The newly constructed watchtower is able to allow about 200 visitors at a time to view the scenic beauty of Rasamati Jhil and adjacent forestland. It was erected with a fund of about Rs 10-lakh.

 

Not only the watchtower, a plan is also there to build up a nature interpretation centre. The estimated cost to implement the plan is Rs 18-lakh. Laying the foundation of this project Cooch Behar MP (Rajya Sabha) Mr Tarini Roy agreed to extend Rs 10-lakh for the project from his Local Area Development fund.

 

Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad sabhadhipati Mr Jnanendra Chandra Chanda expects that the newly built watchtower would be able to attract tourists to enjoy the monsoon surrounded by the greenery of Rasamati Jhil and forestland. To make their passage straight to the tower easy a way will be constructed. The tourists will have to go there by the vans provided by the local Forest Protection Committee.

 

It may be recalled here that a picnic cum tourist spot was inaugurated at Rasamati Jhil in Patlakhaoa of Cooch Behar in last December. The picnickers get an opportunity here to see wild animals like leopards, deer, bison, peacocks and migratory birds in the adjacent jungle and wetland. Such opportunity is almost rare in other picnic spots in this region. Work to develop Rasamati Jhil as a picnic spot was started a few years ago. The plan behind this venture was promotion of tourism in this area. After completion of the total planned project the visitors and the picnickers will be able to enjoy pedal boating too in the large water-body of Rasamati Jhil.

 

The Patlakhaoa forest is not very far off from the spot. The visitors and nature lovers may get a glance of leopards, deer and peacocks in that forest. As the spot is at a distance of about 15-kilometre only from Cooch Behar town, it is an ideal place for weekenders to spend a day in the lap of nature "under the greenwood tree".

 

It was learnt that a suspension bridge and a few cottages would also be constructed at Rasamati Jhil to attract picnickers. The estimated total cost of the proposed project is Rs 1-crore. []

 

Blood donation camp

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 5: Trinamul Yuva Congress organised a voluntary blood donation camp at Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Hospital premises in Cooch Behar yesterday. District Trinamul Yuva Congress president Mr Shibendra Nath Roy said they observed Martyrs' Day yesterday (4 August) in Cooch Behar district to pay homage to the three martyrs who were killed years ago during a demonstration organised against adulterated mustard oil. The blood donation camp was organised to mark the day. []

 

PHOTO : The "Sankosh to Teesta" march that started on 31 July demanding reopening of closed tea gardens would end at Jalpaiguri on 9 August. A poster on a roadside wall at Jalpaiguri on Sunday.

Kamal Guha

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 3: The physical condition of veteran Forward Bloc leader Mr Kamal Guha is stable today. Following state chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's instruction an expert team of four medical professionals from SSKM Hospital in Kolkata examined him today.

 

Mr Guha's family physician Dr Bidyut Kamal Saha said the condition of the senior leader is now stable. The experts have advised today not to shift him and to continue the treatment as it was going here. They advised replacing of a few medicines only.

 

Mr Guha's physical condition turned serious on Wednesday night. He is now in a private nursing home in Cooch Behar. A three-member team from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital examined him yesterday.

 

Forward Bloc's all-India general secretary Mr Debabrata Biswas, state food and supply minister Mr Paresh Adhikary and a few other ministers, MLAs and leaders of the party arrived here yesterday and today to inquire the health of the veteran leader.

 

It may be mentioned here that the Forward Bloc's Bangla Committee chairman and former agriculture minister Mr Kamal Guha (80) was shifted from a nursing home of Dinhata to a private nursing home in Cooch Behar on 24 July. Since then on he is there under Dr Subhas Saha. He is suffering from various ailments and his age too turned a factor. Mr Guha was in a private nursing home in his hometown Dinhata under Dr Bidyut Kamal Saha since 17 July. []

 

Timber seized

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 3: Acting on a tip-off Cooch Behar social forestry division officials have recovered forest teakwood worth Rs 60,000 from Kaljani river at Chilakhana in Tufanganj sub-division yesterday. The sawn timber was being floated through the river by the forest plunderers. No one was arrested in connection with the crime. []

 

Children's park

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 3: Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad is considering a proposal to establish a children's park at Gosanimari in Dinhata. Gosanimari is a place of historic interest. There were several plans to include it in the tourist map but nothing happened till now. CZP sabhadhipati Mr Jnanendra Chandra Chanda said they sent a number of proposals to the state tourism department to make Gosanimari a tourist spot. []

 

NREGA payment

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 3: Seventy villagers of Nakkatigachh in Tufanganj are still to receive their wages under the 100-day job guarantee scheme. The payment is pending for about a month. Since the area is a flood-affected one they are suffering due to non-payment. Cooch Behar ADM Mr Pannalal Mahapatra ordered an inquiry into the matter. []

 

Air-horn action

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 3: Use of air-horn is prohibited but some are disobeying this order. During a special drive conducted along NH-31 Baxirhat Police took legal action against twelve vehicle owners for disobeying the instruction. Police said they had conveyed all concerned about the Supreme Court's order against use of air-horn and asked all to remove the air-horns from their vehicles by 27 July. The drive will be continued till removal of all air-horns, police said. []

Jawans rescue abducted girl

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 2: BSF jawans rescued an abducted girl from being trafficked to Bangladesh. Police handed her over to her parents today. According to the complaint lodged to the police on 31 July, one Bakkar Mian had kidnapped Roshna Khatun (16), daughter of Md Ajizur Rahman of Okrabari in Mathabhanga from Nishiganj area on 28 July. Last night BSF jawans on patrolling duty at Fulbari area near the Indo-Bangladesh border observed that three men were trying to drag a girl towards the border. The jawans chased the gang. Smelling danger the three fled away leaving the girl. Later she was identified as Roshna. BSF jawans handed her to police and today she came back to her parents, BSF sources said. Raid is on to nab the accused Bakkar. []

Rally on hawker issue

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 2: Cooch Behar district unit of INTUC and Cooch Behar Zilla Footpath Byabasayee Samiti (CZFBS) took out a procession in Cooch Behar town today. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate and the chairman of Cooch Behar Municipality.

 

District INTUC president Mr Sudha Ranjan Mukherjee said they organised the programme demanding implementation of the decision that was adopted at the all-party meeting on 17 July to solve the hawker problem in the town.

 

CZFBS general secretary Mr Gobinda Ghosh, district INTUC general secretary Mr Dipak Neogi, district Youth Congress president Mr Avijit Dey Bhaumik and other leaders led the procession that started from district Congress office with a large number of hawkers.

 

Mr Mukherjee said that according to the decision of the all-party meeting the ponds like Chandandighi and Laldighi should be cleaned and renovated and the traders engaged in businesses on the banks of these ponds should be provided with permanent settlement to conduct their businesses. The evicted hawkers should be allowed to continue their businesses by mobile vans, he said.

 

Cooch Behar is a city of 8.5 square-kilometre since the days of Maharajas. Volume of all the municipalities in this state was increased except Cooch Behar. Now the time came to expand it following increase of population and to create job opportunities. Once the volume of this municipality increases it would be possible for it to upgrade its status from D-category to C-category and thus Cooch Behar Municipality may be able to get more financial assistance to make the town prosperous, Mr Mukherjee said. []

 

Kamal Guha critical, CM sends medical team

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 2: The condition of Forward Bloc's Bangla committee chairman Mr Kamal Guha turned serious again from last night. He is in a private nursing home in Cooch Behar. A three-member team from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital examined him today. Another medical team of specialists from Kolkata is to arrive tomorrow as instructed by the state chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, according to Mr Guha's family physician Dr Bidyut Kamal Saha.

 

Forward Bloc's all-India general secretary Mr Debabrata Biswas, state food and supply minister Mr Paresh Adhikary and other leaders arrived here to inquire the health of the veteran leader according to his son Mr Udayan Guha.

 

Dr Bidyut Kamal Saha said the blood pressure of Mr Guha decreased last night and his condition became critical. Now his condition is stable, Dr Saha said.

 

It may be mentioned here that the Forward Bloc's Bangla Committee chairman and former agriculture minister Mr Kamal Guha (80) was shifted from Dinhata to a private nursing home in Cooch Behar on 24 July. Since then on he is there under Dr Subhas Saha. He was suffering from cardiac and breathing problems. Mr Guha was in a private nursing home in his hometown Dinhata under Dr Bidyut Kamal Saha since 17 July. []

Watchtower at Rasamati tourist-spot

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 2: State forest minister Mr Ananta Roy will inaugurate a new watchtower at Rasamati Jhil tourist-spot on Saturday to make the tourist-spot more attractive to the tourists and visitors. The Rasamati Jhil tourist spot was launched in last year to lure the picnickers and tourists who like to visit the beauty of nature especially during monsoon. Now the 60-metre watchtower is going to make it more attractive believes the forest minister.

 

The newly constructed watchtower will be able to allow about 200 visitors at a time to view the scenic beauty of Rasamati Jhil and adjacent forestland. It was erected with about Rs 10-lakh.

 

Not only the watchtower, a plan is also there to build up a nature observatory. The estimated cost to implement the plan is Rs 18-lakh. Cooch Behar MP (Rajya Sabha) Mr Tarini Roy agreed to extend Rs 10-lakh for the project from his Local Area Development fund.

 

Cooch Behar social forestry division officials expect that the newly built watchtower would be able to attract tourists to enjoy the monsoon surrounded by the greenery of Rasamati Jhil and forestland. To make their passage straight to the tower easy a way will be constructed. The tourists will have to go there by the vans provided by the local Forest Protection Committee, the DFO (SF) Mr Apurba Sen said.

 

It may be recalled here that a picnic cum tourist spot was inaugurated at Rasamati Jhil in Patlakhaoa of Cooch Behar in December. The picnickers get an opportunity here to see wild animals like leopards, deer, bison, peacocks and migratory birds in the adjacent jungle and wetland. Such opportunity is almost rare in other picnic spots in this region. Work to develop Rasamati Jhil as a picnic spot was started a few years ago. The plan behind this venture was promotion of tourism in this area. After completion of the total planned project the visitors and the picnickers will be able to enjoy pedal boating too in the large water-body of Rasamati Jhil.

 

The Patlakhaoa forest is not very far off from the spot. The visitors and nature lovers may get a glance of leopards, deer and peacocks in that forest. As the spot is at a distance of about 15-kilometre only from Cooch Behar town, it is an ideal place for weekenders to spend a day in the lap of nature "under the greenwood tree".

 

It was learnt that a suspension bridge and a few cottages would also be constructed at Rasamati Jhil to attract picnickers. The estimated total cost of the proposed project is Rs 1-crore. []

Tea-march enters second day

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 1: The 310-kilometre Sankosh to Teesta padayatra (march) organised by United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) and Dooars Cha-Bagan Workers' Union (DCBWU) arrived Alipurduar today. Already the padayatra gone through 22 tea gardens of the region including Raidak, Jainti, Kartik, Kohinoor, Dharla and Turturi.

 

Today, a mass reception ceremony was organised to greet the participants of the padayatra at Samuktala. UTUC's central committee secretary Mr Abani Roy (MP), Mr Manohar Tirkey (minister), Alipurduar MP Mr Joachim Buxla, ex-minister Mr Dasharath Tirkey, Alipurduar MLA Mr Nirmal Das, state UTUC secretary Mr Ashok Ghosh, Mr Hiralal Lakra and other leaders addressed the gathering. They highlighted the situation of the closed and abandoned tea gardens of Dooars and demanded immediate reopening of the closed and abandoned tea gardens.

 

Senior UTUC leader Mr Abani Roy had flagged off the padayatra at Shahid Baag of Sankosh Tea Estate in Dooars yesterday. It is to end at Jalpaiguri on 9 August where the participants would submit a memorandum to the divisional commissioner, Jalpaiguri, Mr Behari Lal Meena. Though the total number of participants is 203 but a large number of sympathisers are accompanying them everywhere. []

 

Flood situation improves in Cooch Behar

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 1: As the flood situation improved in Cooch Behar district the distressed people are going back to their homes. However, a few relief camps are still working. Water levels of all the major rivers have receded according to the district magistrate Mr Rajesh Kumar Sinha.

 

Official sources said that 4,947 houses were damaged and 8,972 houses were partially damaged during the flood situation in this district. The floods affected 29 Gram Panchayat areas of six blocks and 1.20-lakh people. Many roads in rural areas and also a bridge were damaged. Agriculture sector too suffered a huge loss. Cultivation of 10,000-hectre farmland was damaged and the loss was estimated to about Rs 10-crore. The district has suffered a total loss of about Rs 21-crore and Rs 15-crore is required immediately to set things going, according to a report prepared by Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad.

 

Cooch Behar District Trinamul Congress president Mr Rabindra Nath Ghosh said that water level of the rivers receded but the flood-affected people are now suffering from lack of food, drinking water and baby food. He alleged that the administration failed to meet the situation firmly. The river embankments are washing out and the overflowed rivers are making their ways through villages. 12 dwelling houses at Ghonapara were grabbed by Gadhadhar river. Kaljani grabbed 11 houses at Bhuchungmari and Torsa washed out four houses at Dakshin Dawaguri. The affected people need work and food, not speeches, he said.

 

Demanding arrest and punishment of the contractors and the officials concerned who were responsible for construction of inferior embankments Mr Ghosh declared that they would submit a memorandum to the state relief minister who is to visit this district on 3 August. They will also convey the situation to the state irrigation minister very soon. He announced that Trinamul Congress supporters alongwith flood and erosion-affected people would gherao the office and bungalow of the district magistrate demanding immediate measures to save the people of flood and erosion prone areas and action against the dishonest contractors and officials.

 

The Trinamul Congress leader Mr Ghosh, also a member of party's North Bengal Core Committee, alleged that the swelling Torsa river might pose danger to the Cooch Behar Palace as well as entire Cooch Behar town during this monsoon. The town-saving dyke that was constructed in 1954 to save Cooch Behar town was never repaired since its construction. The government allots a huge sum of money every year to maintain the dyke but no work was done till now to maintain and renovate this dyke. Alleging misappropriation of fund he demanded a high level inquiry into the matter. []