Trinamul to intensify agitation on tea garden issue

 

COOCH BEHAR, July 10: Trinamul Congress has threatened to gherao the office of the Tea Board in Kolkata if the authorities concerned fail to take any positive initiative towards reopening of the closed and abandoned tea gardens of north Bengal within seven days. This decision was taken at the meeting of the party's 13-member North Bengal Core Committee that was held at Jalpaiguri yesterday.

 

It was also decided that the members of the core committee would sit in Kolkata on 22 July morning. On that afternoon party chief Miss Mamata Bannerjee will discuss the tea garden issue with the members of the core committee at her residence. The core committee members, alongwith senior state leaders will meet the Governor on 23 July. They will submit a memorandum to him demanding immediate measures to reopen the closed tea gardens in north Bengal. Also, there is a plan to meet the President of the country with an appeal to intervene into the matter to save the poor jobless workers of the closed tea gardens of north Bengal according to a core committee member Mr Rabindra Nath Ghosh.

 

It may be mentioned here that Trinamul Congress organised demonstrations at Jalpaiguri yesterday demanding reopening of the closed tea gardens. They submitted a memorandum containing an eleven-point charter of demands to the Divisional Commissioner of Jalpaiguri Mr BL Meena.

 

Mr Ghosh, who is also the president of the party's Cooch Behar district unit, said they urged Mr Meena to consider the reopening of the fourteen tea gardens as a top priority one because it only can bring a ray of hope to the workers and their families. The closure of these tea gardens has affected the economy of north Bengal too, he alleged. Mr Ghosh also alleged that the recent visit of Union minister of state for commerce had initially brought a sense of relief to the depressed workers of the closed tea gardens and their families but it proved futile since no tea garden reopened thereafter. []

 

Timber, vehicle seized

 

COOCH BEHAR, July 10: Acting on a tip-off a team of officials from Cooch Behar social forestry division seized a motor vehicle at Dima Beech Line in Dooars yesterday. This vehicle was used to carry forest timber illegally according to the Cooch Behar ADFO (SF) Mr SK Baroi. Later, they seized sawn Saal and Teakwood worth Rs 3-lakh from a wooden furniture shop at NN Road in Cooch Behar. The owner of the shop was also arrested in connection with the illegal trading of forest timber, Mr Baroi said.

 

It was learnt that no one was arrested till now in connection with the recent telephone call that threatened the ADFO Mr Baroi of dire consequences. A complaint was lodged at Cooch Behar Kotowali police station against seven persons. The persons involved with that telephone call were reportedly identified but as they were absconded it was not yet possible to nab them, police sources said. The telephone call was made following seizure of huge quantity of teakwood at Dewanhat recently, Mr Baroi said. []