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. []