Category Archives: Regional

Politics, Regional

BJP manipulating people of North Bengal: Firhad Hakim

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Sanchita Aich Bag, MP, 12 June 2024, Siliguri: Firhad Hakim, minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Government of West Bengal and TMC leader expressed concern over the Lok Sabha election results in North Bengal. 

He stated that the BJP has been manipulating people of North Bengal, especially those living in hills. The minister, on a tour of North Bengal, visited offices of Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) and Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Wednesday where he held meetings with the SJDA Chairman and SMC Mayor. 
Talking to mediapersons, Hakim stated: “Papiya did a good job in North Bengal but BJP is misleading the people of North Bengal, especially in the Hills. While BJP has lost in Ayodhya, the birthplace of Ram, it is politics in the name of religion in North Bengal. Actually, hoodwinking is a practice that the BJP has been using on innocent people. However, many people have now realised their conspiracy thereby resulting in the dip in the margin of votes this election,” said the minister talking to mediapersons during his visit to the SJDA office in Siliguri. 
“All the development work in the hills has been done by our Chief Minister. The BJP has not done anything. Every time before the election, Gurung’s party arrives on the scene and manipulates the people. 
People of hills are being used for political gains,” he added. Hakim also suggested that Sourav Chakraborty, the chairman of SJDA, expand the jurisdiction of the SJDA along with focussing on green development by preserving nature. 
From SJDA, the minister visited the SMC office. There Mayor Gautam Deb and Tshering Y. Bhutia, Commissioner of SMC requested for funds for several ongoing works of the SMC. Hakim assured of all necessary help. 
Meanwhile, he advised the Trinamool Congress councillors to focus on public participation in development works. “People’s participation is one of the most important factors but they deeply rely on councillors. Councillors are the only entities who can connect with the people at the grassroots level. 
Every councillor should involve people in all the development projects that are being undertaken in their wards. This will result in residents supporting the councillor and the councillor will never lose an election,” Hakim added. 
Tshering Y Bhutia, Commissioner, requested the minister to sanction a fund of Rs 15 crore for the renovation work of Kanchenjunga Stadium. 
She also requested him to sanction funds for the work of elevated corridor near Mahananda River which will cost about Rs 250 to 300 crore; work of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) 1; AMRUT 3 project; new building for the SMC and river cleaning work. 
The minister asked the SMC to install a biochemical waste management plant using their resources. 
Courtesy & source- Millennium Post
https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/bjp-manipulating-people-of-north-bengal-firhad-hakim-567693
Regional

16-yr-old boy run over by Darjeeling toy train; third death since 2022

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Launched by the British in 1881 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, popularly called the toy train, is famous for joy rides and draws thousands of tourists


Pramod Giri, THT, 12 June 2024, Siliguri: A 16-year-old boy died under the wheels of a toy train at Kurseong in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district on Wednesday afternoon, officials said, adding that this was the third death of its kind since March 2022. 

The deceased was identified as Surya Routh, a resident of Kurseong’s Dak Bungalow area, police said. He was declared dead on arrival at the local sub-divisional hospital. 

A police official, who requested anonymity, said, “Surya was standing on the platform when the train, which was going from Darjeeling to New Jalpaiguri, rolled in. The boy somehow fell on the tracks and the train dragged him for some distance although the driver had applied the brakes immediately.”

Launched by the British in 1881 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, popularly called the toy train, is famous for joy rides and draws thousands of tourists.

“Since the train runs slowly many people tend to ignore the fact that it is a machine and can pose danger as well,” a railway official said on condition of anonymity.

On June 6, a woman named Sita Routh was hit by a train near St Anthony School on the outskirts of Kurseong. She is admitted to a hospital, officials said.

On February 13 last year, a 70-year-old man, Khadga Bahadur Tamang, a resident of Tindharia Tea Estate, died after he was hit by a train.

On March 28, 2022, a man died after he was run over while crossing the tracks at Dagapur on the outskirts of Siliguri.
Regional, Sikkim

Sikkim and Darjeeling will share their joys and sorrows together

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Editorial, EOI, 12 June 2024 : The congratulatory message of Darjeeling M.P. Raju Bista to Chief Minister of Sikkim Prem Singh Tamang on the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony of the latter that people of Darjeeling and Sikkim are blood brothers is highly true. 

Historically, the hills of Sikkim Darjeeling had been bound by the same umbilical cord that got separated in 1835 when the British obtained the title over the Darjeeling hills from the Chogyal of Sikkim to set up a health resort. 
But there are numerous other ties between the two neighboring hill regions which it is not possible to severe. 
One of the most important of them is the infrastructure. When a landslide occurs, for instance, on National Highway 10, Sikkim and Darjeeling suffer equally badly. The landslide near Singtam on Tuesday morning, for instance, had rendered the highway impassable, leading to extensive traffic disruptions and severe inconvenience for commuters. 
There was a massive traffic jam, with the queue of vehicles extending to several kilometers. Though the disruption was in Sikkim, the impact was felt in the neighbouring West Bengal district of Kalimpong as well.
Equally, when a landslide on N.H. 10 occurs in some of the vulnerable stretches of the road in the Kalimpong district of West Bengal, commuters from Sikkim going to Siliguri to catch a train, a bus or a flight get equally caught in the disruption. 
The disruption caused by the downpour in the Pakyong sub-division, too, affected the traffic flow from Sikkim to the Pedong area of Kalimpong. When the Elevated Highway Corridor from Balason to Sevoke Army Cantonment comes up, it will speed up the flow of traffic to Sikkim as well as the Kalimpong hills of West Bengal. 
If the setting up of this road infrastructure attracts investments to north Bengal, both Sikkim and Darjeeling will also enjoy some benefits. 
The on-going improvements in this road infrastructure will also increase the tourist flow to the hills of Darjeeling and Sikkim. 
When the Buddha Air of Nepal begins its flight operations between Pakyong Airport and Kathmandu and Pakyong, it will help the people of Sikkim and Darjeeling equally. For, many people travel between Nepal and Sikkim and Darjeelng frequently and they have to undergo similar difficulties either by availing the land border between India and Nepal at Kakarvitta or circuitous routes when travelling by air. 
For people of Darjeeling and Kalimpong it may be a shorter journey to Pakyong to take a flight than to Bagdogra. 
At another level, the demand for recognition of the left-out Gorkha communities as scheduled tribes touches the people of Darjeeling and Sikkim equally; though in the case of Darjeeling it is 11 communities while in the case of Sikkim it is 12. When the Centre agrees to accept this demand, it may have to make it a package deal for Darjeeling and Sikkim. 
For, the communities in question are the same and when their demand is accepted in Darjeeling it cannot be ignored in the case of Sikkim. 
The two regions had got separated because of historical reasons and it may not be possible to reverse that reality because history, too, has its own momentum. But it is sure the hills of Darjeeling and Sikkim will share their joys and sorrows together
Regional, West Bengal

Scorching heat: State schools asked to tailor class timings

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PTI, JUNE 12, 2024 : The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education on Wednesday asked state-run and state-aided educational institutions to tailor school hours due to scorching heat prevailing in most parts of the state.


The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, referring to a communique from the school education department on June 11, stated in its advisory that upper primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools can collaborate with “stakeholders” to adjust school hours without disrupting the academic calendar and mid-day meal programme.

The advisory emphasised the importance of considering “weather conditions” in their respective areas while making such decisions, WBBSE deputy secretary Rhitabrata Chatterjee said.

Cities and districts of south Bengal, including North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Purnba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Purba Badhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Murshidabad, and Nadia, have been experiencing hot and humid weather with temperatures ranging between 35 and 40 degree Celsius.

Although the advisory did not specifically mention any particular zone, a school education department official clarified that the communique aimed to address the difficulties faced by children attending classes in the extreme heat, often leading to illness.

The official further explained that many primary and upper primary schools had already adjusted their class schedules to morning hours.

“Many primary and upper primary schools have already rescheduled classes in the morning hours. We have enabled every institute, even at secondary and higher secondary level, to tweak class hours according to their convenience for the benefit of students and teaching/non-teaching staff till the weather condition improves,” the official added.
Regional

Jumbo tramples lodge owner to death in Alipurduar

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Sources said the incident took place at Uttar Simlabari village that is adjacent to Chilapata forest and under Alipurduar–I block

TT Bureau Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, 12.06.24 : A wild elephant trampled to death the owner of a private lodge in Alipurduar early on Tuesday morning.

Sources said the incident took place at Uttar Simlabari village that is adjacent to Chilapata forest and under Alipurduar–I block.
Around 4am, a lone tusker came out of Chilapata forest and damaged a hut at Deodanga of Simlabari. The animal then entered a paddy field adjacent to a private lodge.

According to sources, 30-year-old Kingshuk Karjee, who owns the lodge, came out with four others and tried to drive the animal away.

“The elephant, however, retaliated and gave them a chase. Others managed to escape but it grabbed Kingshuk with its trunk and then trampled him to death. Later, it then went back to the forest,” said a source.

The locals then informed the foresters and a team reached the spot.

“It is an unfortunate incident. Kingshuk died while trying to drive away the elephant from the agricultural field. The department will provide the stipulated compensation (of ₹5 lakh) to the bereaved family,” said Sudipta Ghosh, the range officer of Chilapata forest range.

In another incident, a wild elephant came out of the Gorumara National Park early on Tuesday morning and damaged six houses in Uttar Dhupjhora area under Matiali block of Jalpaiguri.

Sources said the elephant strayed into the village in search of food around 2am. Also, it was raining heavily then.

It then damaged the houses and later, walked into the Panjhora forest.

The affected families have demanded compensation from the forest department.

Leopard attack

Subal Roy, a 51-year-old farmer got injured in a leopard attack in Falakata block of Alipurduar on Tuesday.

He is under treatment at Birpara state general hospital.

Sources said Roy, who stays in Chandnikura village, was working in the field. Around 6am, he spotted a leopard lying on the ground.

As he retreated, the leopard attacked him and mauled his back. Roy raised an alert and locals rushed him to the hospital.

Foresters were informed and a team reached the spot. They have laid a cage in the areas to trap the animal, sources said.

Pangolin rescued

A pangolin was rescued from Demka Jhora, a locality in Malbazar block of Jalpaiguri on Tuesday afternoon.

Locals said over the past few days, poultry were going missing in the village.

On Tuesday, some of them spotted the animal near a pond. They caught it and informed the foresters.

Later, the pangolin was handed over to foresters of Malbazar wildlife squad.

Courtesy & source- The Telegraph
Regional

Government agrees to GTA’s proposal to construct alternative routes in hills

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The GTA had submitted a proposal to the state government for the construction of three roads to ease traffic congestion in the hills, said GTA chief executive Anit Thapa
A traffic snarl on NH55 at Jorebunglow, 8km from Darjeeling: The Telegraph

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, 12.06.24 :The Bengal government has in principle agreed to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA)’s proposal to construct alternative roads from Darjeeling to Teesta Bazar and from Bungkulung to Kurseong.

The two alternative roads are proposed largely to ease traffic congestion while travelling to Darjeeling.
“The GTA had submitted a proposal to the state government for the construction of three roads to ease traffic congestion in the hills. Of the three roads, the government has agreed in principle to construct two roads,” GTA chief executive Anit Thapa told The Telegraph.

The 35km-long alternative route from Darjeeling town will start at Lebong and end at Teesta Bazar. Lebong is at the opposite end of Jorebunglow where vehicles coming from Gangtok, Kalimpong, Siliguri and Mirik converge creating huge traffic snarls on a stretch of 8km.

During peak tourism season, it takes hours to cover the 8km stretch and the entire traffic in Darjeeling town also gets affected.

“This alternative route from Lebong would ensure that vehicles to Kalimpong and Gangtok can exit Darjeeling from the other end of town. In fact, from Teesta Bazar, one can also go to the Dooars and Siliguri,” said a GTA source.

The in-principle nod to the new road was granted on May 24, said the source.

The other road agreed on by the government is from Bungkulung to Kurseong. “This road will be 14km long and will ease travel from Mirik to Kurseong,” said a source.

Sources said the new road would touch the Pankhabari road at Ambootia Phatak, just a few kilometres below Kurseong town.

The third proposal made by the GTA was to construct a road from Bungkulung in the Mirik subdivision to Sukhiapokhri touching Nagri and Dhajea but it was not approved by the government immediately.

Sources said on June 3, the GTA also wrote to the secretary of the public works department (PWD) to take over the construction of a circular road from Lebong to 3rd Mile via Pandam tea garden.

The GTA has taken up the construction of the 13km stretch from Lebong to 3rd Mile via Pandam and Rangaroon tea gardens. “The GTA has requested the government to take up the balance work,” said a GTA source.

This route would also provide an alternative route to people travelling to Kalimpong, Gangtok, Takdah, Lopchu and Peshok among other places.

Courtesy & source- The Telegraph
Politics, Regional

In victory, BJP must do soul-searching for loss in hill vote share: Trinamool gains in hill votes in Darjeeling

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SANDIP C. JAIN, EOI, 12 June 2024 : The beautiful hills, forests, ravines and rivers of North Bengal have developed into a happy hunting ground for tourists from across the globe. Tourism has rapidly changed the economy and way of life of this area in drastic ways. 

Politically too, this area has for the past decade, become a happy hunting ground for the BJP which now considers this region as its own backyard. 
Having won seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats in the region in 2019 and six of the eight this time, north Bengal is a BJP fortress though the dream of the party of conquering the rest of West Bengal has received a setback. 
With a total of 12 seats in its tally from the state in the Lok Sabha poll from a total of 42, it has been a disappointing performance for the BJP in the rest of the 34 seats in south Bengal. 
The Darjeeling seat is one which the BJP has been dominating for the last three general elections and this time round was no exception. 
From Jaswant Singh to S S Ahluwalia to Raju Bista, the Darjeeling seat seems to have become a safe seat for the BJP over the years. Raju Bista, the sitting MP, has won the Darjeeling seat for a second time; though with a much reduced margin. 
There of course was no doubt that Bista would win again once his name was declared. Riding on the back of several developmental projects that he has brought into Siliguri, like the Balasan-Sevoke highway and the Bagdogra International Airport project, it was definite that the Siliguri voters would once again prefer Bista over Gopal Lama, the Trinamool Congress candidate. 
Bista of course did not have too much to show to the population of the Darjeeling hills by way of any development projects but then the hills anyway vote on sentiments, not development. Even on the subject of sentiments, there was a growing dissent against the BJP in the hills for the hill voters felt that they had been taken for a ride more times than they could digest. Despite exploiting the emotive issue of a separate state and tribal status for the remaining 11 communities, the BJP has nothing to show on this account. This was in some ways responsible for its reduced vote share in the hills. 
Bista polled 679,331 votes this time which was about 70,000 votes less than in the last elections. This figure shows that the BJP lost almost 9 percent of the votes to what it polled in 2019. In 2109 BJP polled 59.2 percent of the total votes cast whereas this year the percentage of the total votes it received was about 51.
Trinamool candidate, Gopal Lama on the contrary polled 500,806 votes which was a big rise from the 336,624 votes that the Trinamool candidate polled in the 2019 elections. 
With approximately 164,000 more votes this time, the Trinamool can take some solace in this year’s performance, despite losing the electoral battle. 
If this increase in Trinamool votes is analyzed, it clearly shows that it has gained both in the hills and in the plains. 
It has gained approximately 102,000 votes in the four assembly segments in the plains, Siliguri, Matigara, Phansidewa and Chopra; while in the three hill assembly segments of Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Kurseong it has gained about 62,000 votes. On a percentage basis, in 2024, Trinamool gained almost 60 percent votes in the hills over what it received in 2019. In 2019 it received a meager 103,500 votes in the hills while this time round they polled 165,494 votes. 
Percentage wise, the Trinamool received just 26.56 per cent votes in the Darjeeling seat in 2019 while getting 38.5 percent votes this time, recording a substantial increase of over 12 percent. 
An analysis of the BJP vote share in the hills shows that in 2019, the saffron party polled 344,100 votes from the hills while managing to get 258,978 votes this time. This shows a significant drop of over 85,000 votes. This means that the BJP has lost almost 25 percent votes this time in the hills in comparison to the last elections. 
The BJP leadership in the hills must take note of this big drop in vote share and try to analyze the cause of this vote loss. 
Of course the Anit Thapa led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha which is in alliance with the Trinamool is now a stronger force in the hills than what it used to be earlier; with it stranglehold over the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and the panchayat bodies in the hills but the loss of BJP votes has more to do with just this. 
The fact that the overall image of the BJP across the country has taken a beating on bread and butter issues of the public also has contributed to the BJP vote loss in the hills. 
With the BJP now no longer in absolute control of things at the Central level, having to share power with conservative politicians like Chandra Babu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, the dream of the hills of a separate state or even scheduled tribe status for the 11 communities seems unlikely to be fulfilled in the near future. 
There is no way that the BJP will rock the already fragile boat that it will have to sail for the coming few years.
Another aspect that needs to be discussed is the better than expected performance of the Congress candidate this time. Polling 83,374 votes, Munish Tamang the Congress candidate supported by the CPI (M) did himself proud especially for the fact that he was brought into the election fray at the very last moment with almost no time to prepare.
Many in the hills had considered him to be the best of all the candidates in the election lineup. But the Congress has practically no grass-root infrastructure in the area. 
Hence he had always been just a marginal player in these elections. There is little doubt though that someone of his calibre, representing the hills in Parliament would have been a big plus for the entire Darjeeling region. 
The BJP will have to do some serious thinking if it wants to remain relevant in the hills in coming years. It has to realize is that the 258,978 votes it received in the hills this time were not just BJP votes but boosted by voters of the Gorkha National Liberation Front, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists and a host of smaller parties. 
 (The writer of this article is the Editor of Himalayan Times,Kalimpong)
Regional

600 people from Jiribam in Manipur take shelter in Assam’s Cachar district

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PTI, 10 June 2024 : People affected by fresh incidents of violence in Manipur have started arriving in Assam’s Cachar district in search of safety, the local MLA said on Monday.


Security along the inter-state border has been tightened, a police officer said.

Two police outposts, a forest beat office and at least 70 houses were torched in Jiribam by suspected militants on Saturday, leading to fresh tension in the neighbouring state which has been witnessing ethnic violence since May last year.

Residents of the bordering areas claimed that about 600 people have taken shelter in various parts of Lakhipur in Cachar district, entering the state by crossing the Jiri river over the last four days.

They are taking shelter in villages at Jirighat and Lakhipur, though no government relief camp has been opened for them, they said.

“The people who have come from Manipur are being allowed to stay here safely. The local administration is taking all steps to ensure no spread of any violence here,” Lakhipur MLA Kaushik Rai told PTI.

Cachar Superintendent of Police Nomal Mahatto said that police and other security forces have been deployed in the border areas.

“There are no reports of any untoward incident in Cachar so far. Police patrolling in Jirighat on the border as well as along the national highway and nearby villages is being conducted,” he told PTI.

The SP added that the situation on the Assam side is completely under control and the police are keeping a strict vigil following the violence in Jiribam.

Jiribam, which has a diverse ethnic composition of Meiteis, Muslims, Nagas, Kukis and non-Manipuris, had so far remained unaffected by the ethnic strife that has been raging in the northeastern state since May last year.

The MLA said that most of the people who have entered Cachar are Kukis and Hmars.

The ethnic conflict between Imphal valley-based Meiteis and hill-based Kukis began in May last year and led to the deaths of over 200 people, besides rendering thousands of people homeless.
Regional, Sikkim

Prem Singh Tamang sworn in for second term as Sikkim CM

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PSikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Photo: IANS)

SNS | Gangtok | June 10, 2024 : Prem Singh Tamang, the president of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), was on Monday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Sikkim for the second consecutive term.


This follows his party’s overwhelming victory in the recent assembly elections, where the SKM secured 31 out of 32 seats. The swearing-in ceremony, held at Paljor Stadium, was conducted by Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and witnessed by a large crowd.

Tamang, 56, who successfully led the SKM to this decisive win, was also elected unanimously as the leader of the legislature party during a meeting on June 2.

Alongside him, a council of ministers consisting of 12 members, including the Chief Minister, was also sworn in.

To ensure the security of the event, the state government ordered the closure of all educational institutions in and around Gangtok on Monday.

Additionally, a half-day holiday was declared for all government offices and public sector undertakings (PSUs) located in the vicinity.

“In view of the swearing-in ceremony of the Hon’ble Chief Minister Designate and the Council of Ministers Designate…the state government hereby declares, 10th June, 2024 as a half working day till 12 noon, for all government offices and PSUs located in and around Gangtok,” Chief Secretary V B Pathak announced in a circular issued by the Home Department.

Tamang’s leadership has been pivotal for the SKM. Under his guidance, the party not only triumphed in the assembly elections but also secured the lone Lok Sabha seat in Sikkim.

He contested and won from both the Rhenock and Soreng-Chakung constituencies, showcasing his strong political influence and popularity.

The SKM’s victory marks a significant shift in Sikkim’s political landscape, further diminishing the influence of the opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which ruled the state for 25 consecutive years until 2019.

The SDF managed to win only one seat in the recent elections, highlighting the extent of SKM’s dominance.

Prem Singh Tamang has promised to continue working towards the development and prosperity of Sikkim.

His administration aims to address various issues facing the state, including improving infrastructure, healthcare, and education, while maintaining the cultural heritage and environmental sustainability of Sikkim.