Voters' list : 75,000 new applications

 

COOCH BEHAR, Dec. 26: There are 15,59,637 voters in nine Assembly constituencies in Cooch Behar district according to the draft electoral roll that was published on 14 November. The largest number of voters came from Sitai, an area close to the Indo-Bangladesh border. Here the number of voters is 1,91,516. Election officials claimed that preparation of 98.8 percent of Elector's Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) was already completed in this district.

 

According to a report 74,752 persons submitted new applications for inclusion of their names in the electoral roll. Here also, the largest number of applications came from Sitai. It is 11,227. In the other bordering areas like Mekhliganj, Sitalkuchi, Mathabhanga, Dinhata, Natabari and Tufanganj many persons submitted new applications for inclusion in the voters' list.

 

Following the constituency-wise report the numbers of new applicants in concerned Assembly constituencies are as follows : Mekhliganj - 9,882, Sitalkuchi – 7,144, Mathabhanga – 6,728, Dinhata – 10,248, Natabari – 6,842 and Tufanganj – 7,228.

 

The officer-in-charge (election) Mr Sanjay Mukherjee said new names would be included only after proper scrutiny and examining all valid documents. No new name will be added in the electoral roll without proper verification.

 

It was learnt that in the electoral list that was published in last January the number of voters was 15,03,554. In 95,873 new applicants 20,472 were rejected due to various reasons. Leaders of different opposition parties like Trinamul Congress and BJP alleged that the rejected persons, mostly infiltrators from Bangladesh, submitted applications afresh to be included in the voters' list. The OC (Election), Mr Mukherjee however assured that no name would be added in the list without possession of scheduled and valid documents. The election cell officials are now examining the new applications, he said. Legal measures will be taken if they receive specific complaints, a senior official said.

 

The OC (Election) said the final electoral roll would be published on 8 January without photographs of the new electors. Photographing of new voters will begin on 1 February. He said 12,123 applications were submitted for correction of entries in the list and 4,290 voters submitted applications for shifting from one constituency to other. They received 8,580 applications for correction of mismatching of names and photographs in the voter's list. []

 

Row over a dead body in hospital

 

COOCH BEHAR, Dec. 26: Body of a female patient was left uncared on the bed for about 21 hours at MJN Hospital in Cooch Behar. This noon the body was shifted for post-mortem.

 

Patients and their relatives at the female medical ward alleged that the woman was admitted at about 2-30 p.m. yesterday and she died at about 3 p.m. Since then the body was kept on the bed. Though they drew attention of the nurses and other general duty attendants no one came up to shift the body from the ward. This morning, they drew the attention of the hospital superintendent too.

 

Hospital sources said a housewife of Sonari village, Bula Das (45) was admitted at 2-35 p.m. yesterday in a serious condition. She had consumed poison. The doctors tried their best to save her life but failed. As it was a case of unnatural death the police were informed about it. Today police officials visited the hospital and inquired into the matter. The body was also removed from the ward. There was no negligence on the part of the hospital authority, hospital sources claimed.

 

A police official in Kotowali police station said they received the information of death last night but inquest was not possible in the night. So, the officials visited the hospital this morning. As there was no hospital staff to remove the body they had to wait till noon, he said. []

 

An ambitious irrigation plan to boost up agriculture

 

COOCH BEHAR, Dec. 26: Following an ambitious plan to extend irrigation facilities to all cultivable lands in Cooch Behar district a proposal is being submitted to the state government. Under the proposed five-year Accelerated Development of Minor Irrigation (ADMI) scheme the farmers of this district is expected to be benefited from the next fiscal year (2008-2009).

 

Convenor of the ADMI scheme and also the executive engineer of Cooch Behar agri-mech division, Mr Shyamal Kumar Banerjee said that once the scheme implemented it would be possible for them to bring an additional 28,000-hectre cultivable land in this district under various irrigation facilities, in addition to the existing ones. The project cost of the ADMI scheme was estimated at Rs 83.92-crore.

 

Under the ADMI project they would install twenty-five deep tube-wells, forty-four medium sized riverwater lifting irrigation (RLI) systems, 441 mini RLIs, 4258 diesel operated sallow tube-wells, one-hundred water harvesting tanks and ten retention structures in different areas in Cooch Behar district, Mr Banerjee said.     

 

Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad sabhadhipati Mr Jnanendra Chandra Chanda hoped that the scheme might get approval in the next financial year. He said huge fund is needed to gear up the irrigation system and also to maintain the existing ones. It is not possible for the CZP alone to cover the entire cultivable lands in this district under irrigation facilities. But it is necessary to boost up the irrigation facilities to prosper in agriculture. After much consideration the ADMI scheme was adopted as a pilot project and the proposal is being sent to the higher authorities concerned, he said.

 

Mr Chanda hoped that all the cultivable lands of this district might come under the ADMI scheme within five years. []