Demand for resumption of Haldibari-Sealdah train service

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 31: Fresh demand for resumption of the long abandoned railway service between Haldibari and Kolkata through Bangladesh is rising at Haldibari and adjoining areas in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts. The plying of locomotives from Haldibari to Sealdah through Bangladesh can reduce the present 15-hour journey to 6-hour only.

 

Former Cooch Behar MP (Lok Sabha) Mr Amar Roy Pradhan is among the front ranking proponents who want resumption of the train service. Chairman of Janabadi Forward Bloc, Mr Roy Pradhan, also a resident of Haldibari, recalled, it took about eight hours in those days to reach Sealdah by train from Haldibari. Steam engines are replaced by diesel engines these days and the journey time may reduce accordingly, he opined. Resuming of the train service may also act as a booster to promote tourism among the member countries of South-Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), he hoped. It will be easier to reach Dhaka through this route.

 

Mr Roy Pradhan mentioned that the Haldibari-Sealdah train service through Bangladesh was alive for some years even after Independence but later it was discontinued for undisclosed reasons. Now, to resume the service it will require laying of railway line along a stretch of seven-kilometre only between Haldibari and Chilahati in Bangladesh. The rest portion of the route is still alive in Bangladesh. The veteran leader said he would try his best to convince the authorities concerned to reintroduce the railway service.

 

The argument behind the demand for resumption of Haldibari-Sealdah train service through Bangladesh is that one may reach Kolkata by about six hours. At present it takes about fifteen hours for the journey through New Jalpaiguri. The members of the local business community of Haldibari and some political parties too are coming up with the demand. Recently, on behalf of the local unit of the All India Youth League a memorandum was submitted to the Union railway minister Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav through the Forward Bloc's all-India general secretary Mr Debabrata Biswas. Vice-president of Cooch Behar District Trinamul Congress, Mr Niranjan Dutta said they are too considering a plan to organise a popular movement to get back the abandoned train service. []

 

Cheques disbursed

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 31: Cheques of Rs 10,000 per head were disbursed among 143 beneficiaries under National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) at Netaji Bhavan of Pundibari in Cooch Behar-II on yesterday afternoon. Rs 14,30,000 were distributed for the fiscal year of 2006-2007.

 

Sabhapati of Cooch Behar-II Panchayat Samity Mr Dhaneswar Roy presided over the programme. Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad karmadhyaksha Ms Pratima Sarkar, Cooch Behar-II Panchayat Samity karmadhyaksha Ms Bani Roy and Cooch Behar-II BDO Ms Sonam Doma Bhutia were present on the occasion.

 

143 beneficiaries from Ambari, Bara-rangras, Chakchaka, Dhangdhing-guri, Gopalpur, Marichbari-Kholta, Madhupur, Patlakhawa, Pundibari and Takagachh-Rajarhat Gram Panchayat areas under Cooch Behar-II block received the cheques at yesterday's programme. []