Trinamul plan

 

COOCH BEHAR, July 15: About five thousand Trinamul activists and supporters from Cooch Behar district are to attend the Martyrs' Day programme to be held at Dharmatolla in Kolkata on 21 July. District Trinamul Yuva Congress president Mr Shibendra Nath Roy said thirteen Trinamul Congress supporters were killed in police firing on 21 July 1993 in Kolkata. The Trinamul Congress supporters will take oath on that day to fight against the atrocities and misrule of Left Front run state government, he said. Mr Roy also declared that they would observe 4 August too as Martyrs' Day in Cooch Behar to pay homage to the three martyrs who were killed during a demonstration organised against adulterated mustard oil. A blood donation camp will also be held on that day, Mr Roy added. []   

 

Herbal garden in Alipurduar gets UBUP assistance

 

COOCH BEHAR, July 15: After sanctioning of a fund to the tune of Rs 2.43-crore for developing a project on the much awaited medicinal plantation at Tapsikhata in Alipurduar the hope for its implementation is likely to take a positive shape. The land was acquired for the herbal garden about 25 years ago. Granting the proposal the Uttar Banga Unnayan Parshad extended Rs 25-lakh for the current fiscal session. It is expected that the work for the medicinal plantation project may begin after the monsoon. It was learnt that the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri division and also the member-secretary of UBUP Mr Bihari Lal Meena took an initiative to make the project successful.

 

Alipurduar MLA Mr Nirmal Das said the proposed herbal garden would come up in a 69-acre land at Tapsikhata. The Centre too agreed to extend a sum of Rs 30-lakh for the project this year. The Rs 25-lakh that was extended by the UBUP will be used for demarcation of land and construction of boundary wall. State public works (construction board) department was entrusted to construct the boundary walls, Mr Das said. Aiming to make the much sought-after project a success a high level meeting will be held at Alipurduar in the last week of this month, he said.

 

Mr Das said that initially the project work would be conducted under supervision of the divisional commissioner. Later it will be decided which department is to take the responsibility for it. Who to appoint the required personnel and which department is to bear the responsibility to offer the salaries to the personnel are also yet to be decided by the UBUP, Mr Das said. "I made a request to the state chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to ask the Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya to shoulder the responsibility of the garden after completion of the infrastructure. The CM has agreed to this proposal", Mr Das claimed.

 

Saha-savapati of Alipurduar-I Panchayat Samiti Mr Subrata Roy said about 150 species of herbs with medicinal properties were found in Dooars. These herbs need to be taken under conservation scheme. At Tapsikhata Ayurvedic garden research can be done on the medicinal properties of these plants, he opined.

 

It may be recalled that the state government had adopted a plan to establish an herbal medicinal garden for promotion and conservation of Ayurvedic system of medicine and also to encourage research on medicinal plants at Tapsikhata in Alipurduar-I block. Sixty-nine acre of land was also acquired for establishing the plantation and research centre. The then state health minister Nani Bhattacharya had laid the foundation of the project in 1982 but after his demise the project was dumped under other files.

 

It was learnt that the UBUP would follow the recommendations and suggestions from National Medicinal Plants Board and forest department on planting of medicinal plants in the Tapsikhata herbal garden. []