Sports

 

COOCH BEHAR, Jan. 11: Fourteenth year district level sports and cultural programme of neo-literates and learners held at Cooch Behar Stadium adjacent to Cooch Behar Palace today. Cooch Behar MP (Rajya Sabha) Mr Tarini Roy inaugurated the programme by handing over a flaming torch to a neo-literate, Ms Bimala Barman. Officer-in-charge of Zilla Saksharata Samity and Cooch Behar SDO Mr Jayanta Kumar Maity said there were 450 participants in 26 events. []

 

Meeting to discuss eviction drive

 

COOCH BEHAR, Jan. 11: An all-party meeting will be held tomorrow to discuss various aspects of the proposed eviction drive that may start shortly. A massive eviction drive was conducted in this heritage town last year to make the roads, streets and roadside drains encroachment free. Additional portions of many constructions that were built illegally occupying government lands were dismantled on that time.

 

Making the banks of Laldighi encroachment free is the main agenda of tomorrows meeting, said Cooch Behar SDO, Mr Jayanta Kumar Maity. Representatives of political parties, officials of district administration, police, Cooch Behar Municipality and traders' bodies are to take part in the meeting. The actual position of the Laldighi (a major waterbody situated in the heart of the town) and its banks will be reviewed in the meeting.

 

It was learnt that in the next phase an initiative would be taken to make the banks other dighis of the town encroachment free.  

 

Meanwhile, Trinamul Congress declared that they would not attend the tomorrow's meeting. President of the party's district unit, Mr Rabindra Nath Ghosh said the district administration and the Congress-run civic body failed to rehabilitate the affected persons who were evicted during the previous drive. At first the authorities should take steps to rehabilitate them before opting for a fresh eviction drive.

 

Though cleaning up of the banks of Laldighi is the main agenda of tomorrow's meeting but it was learnt that the meet might turn hot if the representatives of Cooch Behar Municipality raises any proposal for large-scale eviction drive to make the city clean. []