Dibyendu Sinha, MP, 30 May 2024, Jalpaiguri: The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) has repeatedly stated that e-rickshaws cannot be charged on domestic supply connections. Despite this, e-rickshaws continue to be charged on domestic lines in districts, including Jalpaiguri town.
The Jalpaiguri Regional Office of the WBSEDCL has taken a different approach to halt this practice.
Without imposing penalties or legal actions, the electricity connections of houses where e-rickshaws are being charged are being converted to commercial connections. Already, 150 to 200 domestic connections have been converted to commercial connections in the district.
From urban to rural roads, e-rickshaws have become essential vehicles. However, with time, their numbers are increasing.
According to sources from Jalpaiguri Municipality, 10,000 to 12,000 e-rickshaws ply on the streets of Jalpaiguri town daily. Most of these e-rickshaws are charged using the domestic electricity connections of houses.
The Jalpaiguri office of the WBSEDCL mentioned that a typical house consumes around 1 kilowatt or slightly more electricity.
However, electricity load is provided based on the consumer’s application and materials such as power cables are installed accordingly.
However, due to e-rickshaw charging on these connections without informing the office, the increased pressure is damaging transformers.
Additionally, the cost of electricity per unit is higher for commercial connections compared to domestic ones, resulting in financial losses for the office. Sanjay Mondal, Jalpaiguri Regional Manager of WBSEDCL, stated: “Charging e-rickshaws commercially is necessary.
Despite warnings against charging them on domestic lines, the practice persists. Legal action can be taken against offenders.
However, instead of pursuing legal action, we are increasing awareness and converting domestic lines to commercial ones to handle the load. Meter readers identify houses charging e-rickshaws, and our staff promptly change the connections upon receiving this information.”
MP, 30 May 2024, Siliguri: The Special Operation Group (SOG) of Siliguri Metropolitan arrested the prime accused, Siddharth Shankar Laha, Head of the Department of Lifelong Learning and Extension of the University of North Bengal (NBU), in the suicide case of a research scholar of the university from Assam.
He was brought to Siliguri on Wednesday and was produced at Siliguri Court on Thursday. On May 16, the body of a research scholar of the Rural Development department of NBU was found hanging at a rented house in Shiv Mandir area.
The deceased was a resident of Tufanganj, Cooch Behar and was staying in the rented house in Shiv Mandir area Also Read – ‘No one can stop change of power in Delhi on June 4’ in Siliguri.
A suicide note was found in the house where it was mentioned that the accused Siddharth Shankar Laha, had a physical relationship with the deceased and refused to marry her. Therefore, she committed suicide.
Her mobile phone and laptop were also missing from the room.On May 18, family members of the deceased lodged a written complaint. SOG began a search for the accused as he went absconding after the incident and tracked his mobile phone.
First, he went to Kalimpong, then Lataguri, then Cooch Behar.
A few days ago, he went to Goyalpara in Assam from where he was arrested. He was booked under various sections of the IPC. He has been taken into police remand for further investigation.
MP, 31 May 2024, Kolkata: The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore said that monsoon may enter North Bengal in 2-3 days, five days ahead of its usual time of arrival. As per prediction, the monsoon is expected to enter North Bengal on Sunday as it will bring rainfall in the region.
Incidentally, southwest monsoon set in over Kerala on Thursday. Generally, the monsoon enters Kerala on June 5. The MeT office already predicted heavy rainfall in several North Bengal districts in the next 24 hours.
Orange alert has been issued for the districts like Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar as they are expected to receive heavy rainfall.
It will also rain in North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur as well. According to the MeT office, monsoon generally enters Jalpaiguri on June 7, Siliguri on June 8, South Bengal on June 10 and Kolkata on June 11. It is not however clear as to when the monsoon will hit the city.
There may be some scattered rainfall in some of the South Bengal districts during the weekend, the MeT office said.
Spurred by Cyclone Remal, the southwest monsoon set in over the Kerala coast and parts of the northeast on Thursday. Weather scientists said the cyclone, which ripped through Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday, had pulled the monsoonal flow to the Bay of Bengal, which could be one of the reasons for early onset over the northeast.
“Southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala and advanced into most parts of northeast India today, the 30th May, 2024,” the India Meteorological Department said.
The normal monsoon onset date for Kerala is June 1 and for Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam is June 5.
According to weather scientists, El Nino conditions are prevailing at present, and La Nina may set in by August-September. El Nino — the periodic warming of surface waters in the central Pacific Ocean — is associated with weaker monsoon winds and drier conditions in India. La Nina – the antithesis of El Nino- leads to plentiful rainfall during the monsoon season.
PTI, KOLKATA, MAY 30, 2024 : / The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education on
Thursday said it will distribute free language textbooks to students, months after the introduction of a semester-based education system for classes 11 and 12 in educational institutes in the state.
However, due to logistical challenges, the distribution process may experience delays, according to council president Chiranjib Bhattacharya. The revised curriculum, implemented after 11 years, particularly focuses on language subjects, which have been thoroughly updated and divided into four semesters. “The council has revised the curriculum of all subjects after 11 years.
The language papers, in particular, were thoroughly revised and curriculum of all subjects were split into four semesters,” he said.
The state government has undertaken the printing of all language textbooks for distribution across the state, but despite extensive efforts, the process may take some time, he added.
The council is uploading textual materials of language subjects on its website for the benefit of students, teachers, and parents, while endeavours are being made to expedite printing and distribution of textbooks, he said.
State-run and state-aided schools are scheduled to reopen after the ongoing summer vacation on June 3, with classes commencing from June 10. Some schools have already started online classes for 12th standard students.
The adoption of the semester system for classes 11 and 12 in all state-run and state-aided schools was previously announced by the council, with implementation beginning in the academic session 2024-25 for class 11 and 2025-26 for class 12.
Under this new system, the 10+2course is divided into four parts, with class11 structured as semester 1 and 2, and class12 as semester 3 and 4. According to the draft of the new state education policy unveiled in August last year, board exams will be conducted after the completion of the third and fourth semesters.
The existing 4+4+2+2 structure, where students spend four years in the foundation stage, followed by four years in upper primary (preparatory stage), and two years (classes 9 and 10) in secondary education, will be retained, as stated by a higher secondary department official.
Editorial, EOI, 30 May 2024 : For the people of the hills of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim, landslides are of common occurrence. Now in the wake of the devastating landslide in the mountainous Enga province in Papua New Guinea late last week with estimates of the death toll varying between 670 and 2,000 the University of Sydney has offered some explanations as to what causes landslides and if landslides can be predicted to save lives.
As the Papua New Guinea experience has underscored, rescue is challenging in the event of a landslide. Secondary slides and rock falls hamper efforts in the search zone. Because of lack of access, it becomes difficult to move heavy digging machinery to the landslide zone. Roads need to be cleared or repaired for assistance and equipment to arrive. t is difficult to locate potential survivors as landslides carry away buildings and their occupants in an unpredictable manner.
Landslides happen when the pull from gravity exceeds the strength of the geomaterial forming the slope of a hill or mountain. Geomaterials can be as varied as rocks, sand, silt and clays. Then, part of this slope starts sliding downhill. Depending on where the slope fails, the material sliding down can be just a few cubic metres or a few million cubic metres in volume.
But why do slopes fail?
Most natural landslides are triggered by earthquakes or rainfall. Earthquakes shake the ground, stress it and weaken it over time. Rainwater can seep through the ground and soak it and add weight to the slope. The ground is often porous like a sponge.
Another adverse effect of water is erosion, causing slopes to fall. Groundwater can also dissolve rocks within slopes. Human activities also contribute to the chance of landslides. Deforestation has a negative impact on slope stability, as tree roots naturally reinforce the ground and drain water out. Mine blasts produce small earthquake-like ground vibrations that shake slopes nearby. It is difficult to predict and mitigate landslide risk effectively.
The thousands of deadly and costly landslides occurring every year worldwide suggest so. To warn people of a coming landslide, one would need a prediction for earthquakes and rainfall, in addition to a perfect knowledge of the slope-forming geomaterial.
Geomaterials may include multiple, entangled layers of various kinds of rocks and particulate materials, such as sand, silt and clays.
Their strength varies, and their spatial distribution dictates where the slope is likely to fail. To accurately assess the stability of the slope, a three-dimensional mapping of these materials and their strengths is needed. No sensor can provide this information, so geologists and geotechnical engineers must deal with partial information obtained at a few selected locations and extrapolate this data to the rest of the slope.
The weakest link of the chain, such as an existing fracture in a rock mass, is easily missed. This is an inevitable source of uncertainty when trying to predict how much material might slip. It is known that the larger the volume of a landslide, the farther its runout distance. But it is hard to gauge the exact size of a landslide, making predictions of runout distances and safe zones uncertain.
It is always uncertain when a landslide will occur. Mechanical analysis enables one to estimate the vulnerability of a slope in a particular scenario, including earthquake magnitude and distribution of groundwater. But predicting if and when these triggers will happen is a difficult task.
Amitava Banerjee, MP, 29 May 2024, Darjeeling: With demands for “Bharat Ratna” to be awarded posthumously to legendary mountaineer Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, reverberating from different quarters, International Everest Day was commemorated on Wednesday.
The day marks the first successful ascent of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary on this day in 1953. The birth anniversary of Tenzing Sherpa is also observed on this day. With the appeal for Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the country, to be conferred on Tenzing Norgay, the Nature and Trekkers’ Club of Jalpaiguri (NTCJ) sent a letter to Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday.
“Tenzing Norgay has been one of the most influential Indians on the global arena. He was declared as one of the most influential people of the world by Time Magazine in 1999. He has received wide accolades globally. NASA has honoured him by naming one of Pluto’s mountains as “Tenzing Montes”.
The recognition bestowed by the Indian Government by awarding him the third highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan does not parallel his contribution. Despite being most deserving of the highest honour our nation can bestow on anyone — Bharat Ratna, it remains elusive for him in spite of widespread appeal to the government from different spheres of the society throughout India,” stated the letter to the Prime Minister expressing hope that the appeal would be given serious consideration.
“We will also approach the Jalpaiguri Municipality to install a statue of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in Jalpaiguri. He is the greatest inspiration for the youth, specially adventure lovers and mountaineers,” stated Bhaskar Das, coordinator of the NTCJ and member, Governing Council, Indian Mountaineering Federation.
“It is an excellent proposal. We will discuss the modalities including funds and a suitable location for the statue in Jalpaiguri in the Chairman in Council meeting,” stated Papia Pal, chairperson, Jalpaiguri Municipality while talking to Millennium Post.
“We reiterate our demand of Bharat Ratna for Tenzing Norgay Sherpa. We fail to understand why the Union government is so hesitant? After the Model Code of Conduct, the state government will again raise this issue,” stated Gautam Deb, Mayor, Siliguri Municipal Corporation during the commemoration of Everest Day in Siliguri, jointly Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation.
The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) ,Darjeeling, also commemorated the day by offering floral tribute at the Memorial of Tenzing Sherpa. “He was the first Director of Field Training of HMI. His contributions have been instrumental in establishing HMI as a leading institution in mountaineering education,” stated Group Captain Jai Kishan, Principal HMI.
Sikkim’s Marathon man Amar Subba accompanied by two others ran from Jorethang in Sikkim to the HMI, Darjeeling completing 32 km, uphill in 3 hours. The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration launched a 10 km long hiking trail from Darjeeling Chowrasta to Sidrapong Hydro Project with stopovers at Tibetan museum, Tenzing Norgay’s house, Ava Art Gallery via the Arya Tea Estate.
Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of Tenzing Norgay, opened up the “Tenzing Norgay Hiking Trail.”
Courtesy & source: Millennum Post
MP, 29 May 2024, Cooch Behar/ Siliguri/ Jalpaiguri: A large area of Tufanganj in the Cooch Behar district was devastated by a powerful storm in the wee hours of Wednesday.
A large area under Nakkati Gach Village Panchayat in Tufanganj Block No. 1 was virtually demolished in the storm. In addition to numerous houses collapsing, many trees were also uprooted.
A storm also hit Siliguri on Tuesday night continuing till the early hours of Wednesday, uprooting multiple trees, electricity poles and disrupting electricity. According to local sources, more than 30 houses have been damaged in Tufanganj.
The Tufanganj-Balabhut state highway was blocked by fallen electricity poles and trees that was cleared by the disaster management team, restoring traffic. Despite this, there is still no electricity in the area.
Authorities are closely monitoring the situation. Shyamsunder Basak, a local resident, said: “The tin roof of our house was blown away by the gusty wind. In the middle of the night, we had to find shelter.”A large part of the Nakkati Gach area has been without power since the storm.
’ Due to the extensive damage, the electricity supply has been severely affected. According to administrative sources, the fire brigade and disaster management teams, along with the Electricity department, were working in the area since Wednesday morning with the aim to complete all necessary repairs as quickly as possible.
Rajesh Tantri, vice-president of Tufanganj number I Panchayat Samity, said: “Natural disasters are beyond our control. Many houses were damaged. We have arranged tarpaulin sheets for the affected families.
The block administration is keeping a close watch on all issues.” Meanwhile in Siliguri, rain and thunderstorms hit at around 10 pm on Tuesday and continued till the early hours of Wednesday. Trees and electricity poles were uprooted in several areas of Sevoke Road near Surya Sen Park.
A few areas of wards 15, 16, 17, 21 and adjacent areas of Siliguri, including Fulbari and Kharibari, were affected due to heavy rainfall and storms. Mayor Gautam Deb, along with Deputy Mayor Ranjan Sarkar, visited the affected areas. “SMC workers are working on a war footing clearing roads.
The electricity supply has been disrupted in a few areas. Repair works have started since Wednesday morning. We will carry out replantation of some of the trees,” stated Deb. Electricity was restored in wards 10 and 15 by afternoon.
Work was on in wards 17 and 21. Due to the rain in the mountains and the release of 2000 cumec water from the Kalijhora barrage, there is a surge in water in the River Teesta. Owing to this, water has entered the low-lying areas of Teesta, including Salugara Laltong Basti in the Jalpaiguri district.
Irrigation department North East Chief Engineer Krishnandu Bhowmik said: “No warning has been issued in the river.
Due to the release of water from the barrage, some low-lying areas have witnessed inundation. There is nothing to panic about.”
Gourab Neto, MP, 30 May 2024, Kolkata: Following the discovery of pieces of flesh and hair strands in a septic tank of a housing complex in New Town, the daughter of the slain Bangladeshi Member of Parliament (MP) Anwarul Azim Anar may soon come to Kolkata to undergo a DNA test for matching the reports. An arrested person, who police claimed is a butcher by profession, allegedly chopped the body of the Bangladesh lawmaker and mixed them with turmeric before disposing of them at different locations. “In case the body parts are not found, then we will conduct DNA tests on the blood samples and match the result with the DNA of one of Anar’s family members to establish the identity and start a case according to the law,” an officer told a news agency. Also Read – ‘Mercury set to soar in South Bengal; thunderstorms to continue in North’ In another development, the state CID suspects that another accused identified as Siyam had fled to Nepal. A police team might go to Nepal soon in connection with the probe. On Tuesday CID was reportedly requested by the Bangladesh Police to search the septic tank of the apartment building to find any traces of Anar’s body as the arrested accused Jihad Hawaladar reportedly told the cops that he had flushed some body parts through the commode.Honouring the request when the septic tank was searched, where about 3.5 kg pieces of flesh and hair strands were reportedly recovered. However, other body parts are still not found despite repeated searches of the Bagjola Canal in the Krishnamati area of Polerhat. Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police told the media persons in Bangladesh that the motive behind Anar’s murder is still unknown.
MP, 30 May 2024, Kolkata: The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore said that mercury is set to soar in South Bengal districts while the North Bengal districts will continue to witness thunderstorms as Cyclone ‘Remal’ weakened into a depression.
Temperature is expected to go up by 3-5 degree Celsius in South Bengal in the next three days, the MeT office said.
There is however a possibility of thunderstorms in some parts of South Bengal in the weekend. Meanwhile, the monsoon is expected to make an onset over Kerala and some parts of northeast India during the next 24 hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its Wednesday bulletin.
The IMD said that the conditions are expected to become favourable for further advancement of the southwest monsoon into some parts of the South Arabian Sea and the remaining parts of Maldives and the Comorin area, some parts of Lakshadweep area, some more parts of the Southwest & Central Bay of Bengal and Northeast Bay of Bengal during the same period.
Last year monsoon onset was delayed by a week on June 8. The Alipore MeT office said that there is no weather alert and hence the fishermen can venture into the sea. Cyclone “Remal” has paved the way for the Monsoon to set in.
According to the IMD, the normal monsoon onset over Kerala is June 1 and thereafter it advances northwards and then to the rest of the country around July 15. Monsoon normally advances over northeast India around June 5.
Several parts of South Bengal remained partially cloudy on Wednesday. Coastal areas also remained cloudy. The temperature will go up in south Bengal districts from Wednesday.
EOI, SILIGURI, MAY 29, 2024 : Mayor of Siliguri Gautam Deb has announced a temporary prohibition on the supply of drinking water supply in the municipal areas from May 29 to the afternoon of June 2due to contamination of water.
While water would continue to be supplied daily in municipal areas, city residents have been strongly advised against consuming it.
Except using it as drinking water, the supplied water remains suitable for use in other purposes. Reports indicate that a decrease in Biochemical Oxygen Demand has led to contamination of the drinking water supply.
On Wednesday, Mayor Gautam Deb addressed the issue at a news conference held in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) and stated that water samples had been dispatched to Kolkata for testing, and the results were expected to be available in five days.
Meanwhile, the water should not be consumed until the reports arrive.
To address the issue,the SMC has arranged for alternative sources of drinking water, including the distribution of 100,000 water pouches.
Additionally,15,000 to 20,000 pouches would be distributed in each of the five boroughs, and drinking water tankers would be dispatched to every ward.
Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh criticized Mayor Gautam Deb, alleging a failure in municipal governance.
He pointed out that residents had already been consuming contaminated water for the past 15 to 16 days and held the Mayor and the Municipal Council accountable for the situation.
Students participate art competition on the occasion of 164th Birth anniversary of Kobi Guru Rabindranath Tagore organised by MLA Prithiraj Rabha at Tezpur—— UB Photos
PTI, Kolkata, May 29, 2024 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of “spreading lies” about funds being provided to the state and challenged the PM to prove his claim.
Addressing a rally at Metiabruz in Diamond Harbour constituency, the Chief Minister said she was “ready to sacrifice her life” but wouldn’t allow divisive politics of the saffron camp such as the CAA, NRC and UCC in the state.
“Prime Minister while addressing rallies in Bengal is saying the Centre has sent funds for the state which the TMC has siphoned off. He is saying the Centre had sent funds but those were looted by us. The PM is lying. I challenge him to prove that the Centre has released funds for the state. This is a blatant lie,” she said.
Reacting to Banerjee’s remark, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, “The Prime Minister has only tried to highlight the corruption during the TMC regime. It is a well-known fact that the TMC is neck-deep in corruption. The remarks by the Chief Minister reflect that she is rattled after being exposed.” Claiming that the BJP will pay for their arrogance in the polls, Banerjee said the PM’s recent remarks that the BJP’s best results will come from Bengal is “actually an admission that the party will face a rout in other parts of the country.” “So does that mean that the BJP will lose elections in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar? It seems the saffron party has conceded defeat even before the polls are over,” she said.
The CM alleged that the BJP has been spreading canards through misleading advertisements.
“As part of Modi Babu’s guarantee, they were publishing misleading advertisements in newspapers against us. We lodged multiple complaints but there was no action. Yesterday, the High Court also stated it is illegal. They don’t release MGNREGA funds but spend crores on conspiracies, to buy votes and spread propaganda,” she said.
Expressing skepticism about the BJP’s ambitious target of achieving 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, she said people will reject them.
“The entire country has understood that the BJP is a party full of thieves. It is the TMC which will show the way after the elections,” Banerjee said.
The TMC had walked out of the INDIA bloc in West Bengal in January but asserted that she would continue to be part of the opposition bloc at the national level.
Vowing not to allow the implementation of CAA and NRC in the state, she said, “If people do not want divisive CAA, NRC or UCC that will erase our diversity, they must vote against the BJP.”
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also asked if the prime minister prioritised his PR over vaccines and funds under the National Health Mission
Narendra Modi and Jairam Ramesh (inset): File
PTI, New Delhi, 29.05.24 : The Congress on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi whether he was withholding Rs 7,000 crore of paddy procurement funds to West Bengal and if the CBI case against Suvendu Adhikari has got “washed away” in the BJP’s washing machine.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also asked if the prime minister prioritised his PR over vaccines and funds under the National Health Mission.
“Today’s questions for the outgoing PM’s West Bengal visit: Is the outgoing PM withholding Rs 7,000 crore of ration funds so that his face is plastered on ration shops? Did Suvendu Adhikari’s CBI case get washed away in BJP’s washing machine? Does the PM prioritise his PR over vaccines for India’s children?” he asked in a post on X.
He posed the questions on a day the prime minister is campaigning in West Bengal for the last phase of elections on June 1.
“In an incredibly petty move, the Centre has been withholding National Food Security Act funds from West Bengal for not displaying the outgoing PM’s face on ration shops. In an attempt to coerce the state government into displaying sign boards and flexes featuring the outgoing PM’s photos, the Centre has withheld Rs 7,000 crore of paddy procurement funds,” Ramesh charged.
He said this could seriously hinder the state’s paddy procurement and the availability of rice for the public distribution system.
“Why has the outgoing PM so callously neglected the health and wellbeing of the people of West Bengal? Is his publicity more important than people’s daily food?” the Congress leader asked.
He said in April 2017, the CBI filed an FIR against then TMC MP Adhikari in connection with the Narada scam.
In April 2019, the CBI sought sanction from the Lok Sabha speaker to prosecute him and in December 2020, Adhikari joined the BJP, and the CBI never received the Lok Sabha speaker’s sanction.
Similarly, he said, TMC leader Tapas Roy was raided by the ED in January this year in connection with a money laundering case and by March, he had also joined the BJP. Just a few months prior to his joining, Adhikari had alleged that Roy was involved in a municipal recruitment scam but this allegation also “disappeared” once Roy joined the party, he alleged.
“The PM’s ‘Bhrashtachar Hatao’ slogan is shamelessly plastered all over the country even as his party is busy handing tickets to corrupt politicians.
“Can the outgoing PM shed any light on why CBI and ED action against these leaders has been stalled? How can the BJP make pretensions to eradicating corruption when their ‘washing machine’ is clearly at full spin in West Bengal?” Ramesh asked in his post.
He also alleged that the government has blocked the National Health Mission funding to over 11,000 sub-health centres in West Bengal. These sub-health centres form the first line of defence for India’s poor – they are staffed by nurses and provide vaccines for children, tablets, and medicines for common fever, malaria, TB, and other infectious diseases, he claimed.
While the sub-centres are supposed to be called Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres, the state government had named them Sushasthya Centres, he claimed, adding that in a letter on November 25 last year, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) wrote to states, ordering them to rename sub-centres “Ayushman Arogya Mandir” and paint them orange.
The medical community has criticised this attempt by the BJP to “saffronise” medical centres, and the state government has refused to implement it, he said.
“In a petty and vindictive move, the Modi Sarkar seems to have blocked funds just because the state government refused to paint sub-centres a different colour. This comes after the Centre has already blocked state funds to MGNREGA and a Central housing scheme.
“In their vindictiveness, why is the BJP denying essential health services to the poorest communities in the state? Does the outgoing PM prioritise his PR over vaccines for India’s children?” Ramesh asked.
PTI, KOLKATA, May 28, 2024 : The Bangladesh Police will be conducting DNA tests of the blood specimen found in a flat in New Town near here and match the results with that of one of the relatives of Bangladesh MP Anwarul Azim Anar to confirm that the politician was murdered, an officer said on Tuesday.
It is suspected that Anar, who has been missing for a fortnight, was killed in that flat and his body parts were thrown into a canal.
The DNA tests would be conducted as the last option in case the body parts of the Awami League MP could not be found, an officer of the Dhaka police visiting Kolkata as part of the investigation said.
“In case the body parts are not found, then we will conduct DNA tests on the blood samples and match the result with the DNA of one of Anar’s family members to establish the identity and start a case according to the law,” the officer said.
A three-member team of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch is in the city to investigate the death of Anar. The team is being led by the Detective Branch chief Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid.
The Disaster Management Team of the Kolkata Police on Tuesday resumed search in the Bagjola canal adjacent to an amusement park near Rajarhat, an officer said.
Kolkata Police officers, however, said that finding the body parts would be a tough job due to heavy rainfall following Cyclone Remal on Monday.
“It’s been over a fortnight that the crime was carried out. The body parts were chopped into smaller parts and there was a high chance that those were eaten up by aquatic animals. The Bagjola Canal has dirty water and the body parts could be swept away by the flow,” the police officer said.
Divers were employed to spot the body parts as well as the murder tools from the canal, he added.
Assuming that blood was drained out from the bathroom of the flat, where the lawmaker of the Bangladeshi ruling party, was suspected of being murdered, a team of police officers were testing the drain pipes, he said.
The search for the missing MP, who reportedly arrived in Kolkata on May 12 to undergo medical treatment, began after Gopal Biswas, a resident of Baranagar in north Kolkata and an acquaintance of the Bangladeshi politician, filed a complaint with the local police on May 18.
Anar had stayed at Biswas’s house upon arrival.
In his complaint, Biswas stated that Anar left his Baranagar residence for a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon of May 13 and that he would be back home for dinner.
Biswas claimed that the Bangladesh MP went incommunicado on May 17, which prompted him to file a missing complaint a day later.
PTI, Kolkata, May 28, 2024 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led roadshows in different part of Kolkata and its surrounding on Tuesday to garner support for their respective party candidates as the Lok Sabha elections approaches its final phase.
Prime Minister Modi led a vibrant roadshow from Shyambazar Five Point Crossing here on Tuesday.
The roadshow was in support of BJP candidate Tapas Roy, who switched to the saffron camp just months ahead of the elections. Before the event, Modi visited Maa Sarada’s residence at Bagbazar and paid homage to her. He also paid tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at his statue at Shyambazar Five Point Crossing.
Accompanying him were prominent West Bengal BJP leaders, including Sukanta Majumdar and Suvendu Adhikari.
The roadshow started around 7:10 pm. Modi stood atop a decorated vehicle, resplendent in saffron hues and adorned with flowers, images of the PM and BJP’s election symbol, the lotus.
As the convoy made its way through the bustling streets, the Prime Minister waved at the crowd, which gathered on both sides of the street. Women supporters, dressed in saffron saris, also participated in the colourful procession.
Chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’ reverberated in the air as the vehicle passed by, with many onlookers capturing the event on their mobile phones. On the other hand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held two road shows in support of Trinamool Congress candidates in Dum Dum and Kolkata, walking nearly nine kilometres in a day.
In the first road show, the TMC supremo walked from Birati Banik More to Airport gate number two on Jessore Road, a distance of nearly four kilometres, along with party leaders and workers.
The roadshow in Dum Dum Lok Sabha constituency was held in support of the TMC’s veteran leader and candidate Saugata Roy, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term from the seat.
Apart from Roy, TMC ministers Sujit Bose and Chandrima Bhattacharya accompanied Banerjee in the Dum Dum roadshow, while in south Kolkata, city mayor and minister Firhad Hakim walked along with her. In the second road show, Mamata walked nearly five kilometres from Entally Market to Ballygunge Phari in south Kolkata, treading a total of nearly nine kilometres in a single day.
This rally was in support of TMC’s Kolkata Dakshin candidate Mala Roy, who is seeking a second term from the constituency, and Kolkata Uttar candidate Sudip Bandyopadhyay, fighting for a straight third term from the seat.
The fate of all these BJP and TMC candidates will be decided on June 1, the closing day of the Lok Sabha elections.
Even as the impact of Cyclone Remal’s landfall started subsiding, parts of West Bengal, including Kolkata, continued to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Monday.
Cyclone Remal impact: Widespread rainfall, red alert in two districts: Cyclone (Photo:IANS)
IANS | Kolkata | May 28, 2024 : Even as the impact of Cyclone Remal’s landfall started subsiding, parts of West Bengal, including Kolkata, continued to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Monday.
On the basis of predictions, a red alert continued to be in place in two adjacent districts in south Bengal — Nadia and Murshidabad. The weather office has also predicted the wind speed to be high in these two districts.
Similarly, orange alert continued in eight districts — Kolkata, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, West Burdwan, East Burdwan, Birbhum, Howrah and Hooghly. There are predictions of heavy rainfall in these districts.
All these districts are located in south Bengal.
However, at the same time, the weather office has given some good news about the further weakening of Remal, which has already lost much of its strength and has converted into a cyclonic storm in the latter part of the day.
The more it weakens in the day, the more the weather conditions in the state will improve accordingly but gradually. As per forecasts, the possibility of heavy rainfall since Tuesday morning is minimal.
In Kolkata, scattered rainfall was witnessed since Monday morning, and the wind speed was more or less normal.
With train services in the south division of Sealdah and flight services at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport having resumed after being suspended for a long time, city life started springing back to normalcy.
However, train service was disrupted at Kolkata Metro on Monday morning following waterlogging at the tracks in certain places.
The India Meteorological Department on Monday informed that the Cyclonic Storm ‘Remal’ over Coastal Bangladesh and adjoining Coastal West Bengal moved nearly northwards, with a speed of 15 kilometres per hour.
“Severe cyclonic storm Remal over Coastal Bangladesh and adjoining Coastal West Bengal weakened into a cyclonic storm at 0530 p.m. on 27 May about 70 km northeast of Canning and 30 km west-southwest of Mongla. The system is likely to gradually weaken further,” IMD posted on X earlier.
Following the landfall of cyclonic storm Remal, waterlogging was witnessed in parts of Kolkata with heavy rain.
The IMD earlier informed that the storm Remal would continue to move nearly northwards for some more time and then north-northeastwards and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm.
In Memary of East Bardhaman district a father and his son were electrocuted when they touched a banana tree connected with a live wire at their village Kalanabagram. In another case of electrocution, a 47-year-old man died on Raja Road in Panihati in North 24-Parganas this morning when he touched a live wire snapped during the cyclone and was found lying on the road.
The relentless heavy rain is hampering these operations in most of the affected areas in Hingalganj, Frazerganj, Jharkhali, Bakkhali etc. The state government has initiated relief operations, providing food, drinking water and medical assistance to the people affected.
At least seven people died across south Bengal, including a father in Entally, hit by a falling piece of cornice as he stepped out to look for his son, who was at a friend’s place to watch the IPL final
Overhead cables being restored on a waterlogged Camac Street on Monday after Cyclone Remal had caused widespread destruction in the city: Bishwarup Dutta.
Debraj Mitra, TT, Calcutta, 28.05.24 :
Cyclone Remal struck Calcutta at 91km an hour and brought up to 260mm of rain in 24 hours.
If you are wondering how much 260mm of rain means, here is a sample. Data from over 30 years say the average rainfall that Calcutta receives in May is around 120mm. In Calcutta’s rainiest month, July, the average monthly rainfall is around 370mm.
The downpour triggered a deluge and the gusts of wind brought down over 400 trees in just Calcutta and its neighbourhood.
At least seven people died across south Bengal, including a father in Entally, hit by a falling piece of cornice as he stepped out to look for his son, who was at a friend’s place to watch the IPL final.
A father and son died of electrocution in Memari, East Burdwan. An 80-year-old woman died inside her home on Mousuni Island in South-24 Parganas when a tree crashed on the house. Two more died of electrocution, at Panihati in North 24-Parganas and Maheshtala in South 24-Parganas. The seventh death was reported from Haldia.
Many parts of Calcutta faced power cuts between Sunday night and the early hours of Monday as the rain and winds peaked.
Metro services were crippled till Monday afternoon as the overnight rain flooded Park Street and Esplanade stations.
Remal started making landfall — as a severe cyclonic storm — in the Sunderbans in Bangladesh around 8.30pm on Sunday. The storm was around 25km from the tip of the Indian Sunderbans, 110km from Canning and approximately 140km from Calcutta. The Sunderbans are spread over roughly 10,000sqkm, of which around 4,000sqkm are in India and the rest in Bangladesh.
Coordinates shared by the Met office suggest the point of landfall was Mandarbaria, a coastal pocket in Satkhira district of Bangladesh. It is 130km south-southwest of Mongla port in Bagerhat district of Bangladesh.
The core of the storm entered land between 10.30pm on Sunday and 12.30am on Monday, unleashing winds at 110kmph to 120kmph, with gusts clocking 135kmph.
The raging winds, storm surge and blinding rain breached several embankments and flattened homes, poles and trees in the coastal pockets of South-24 Parganas and North-24 Parganas.
A tree uprooted on Cathedral Road near the Birla Planetarium on Monday afternoon.: Bishwarup Dutta
By Monday morning, Remal had weakened from a severe cyclonic storm to a cyclone. The northward movement brought it closer to south Bengal and, around 5.30am, it was 70km northeast of Canning. Around 8.30am, Remal was 90km east of Calcutta, the closest it came to the city.
“By then, it had weakened into a cyclone. The maximum impact in Calcutta and neighbouring areas was between 11.30pm and 4.30am, when it was a severe cyclonic storm,” said H.R. Biswas, head of the weather section at the Regional Meteorological Centre, Calcutta.
The Met office recorded a maximum wind speed of 74kmph in Alipore around 12.45am. In Dum Dum, the maximum recorded wind speed was 91kmph around 12.15am.
Between 1pm on Sunday and 1pm on Monday, Ballygunge received 264mm of rain, Taratala got 206mm and Behala recorded 204mm, according to the readings at the booster pumping stations of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
The Met office recorded 190mm of rain in Alipore between 8.30pm on Sunday and 8.30pm on Monday. Alipore serves as the official record keeper for Calcutta. When Cyclone Amphan struck Calcutta on May 20, 2020, Alipore recorded 250mm of rain and windspeeds of over 100km an hour for several hours. Amphan had made landfall on Sagar Island, around 100km from Calcutta.
The rain brought by Remal continued well into Monday. The effect was visible in the fallen trees and branches, tilted poles and roads with knee-deep water.
Cyclone Remal is likely to move north-northeastwards and gradually weaken further into a deep depression by Tuesday morning.
The rain in Calcutta subsided in the evening, with the system around 150km from the city around 7.30pm.
The weather in Calcutta is likely to improve on Tuesday morning. But north Bengal is going to get drenched as the remnants of Remal move northeast. “On Tuesday, heavy (60mm and more) to very heavy rainfall (120mm and more) is likely in the districts of Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar. Heavy rain is likely in Darjeeling and Kalimpong,” said Somenath Dutta, deputy director-general at the India Meteorological Department, Calcutta. Scattered rainfall is expected in south Bengal, he added.
MP, 28 May 2024, Kolkata: After remaining suspended for 21 hours due to Cyclone Remal, flight operations at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport, Kolkata resumed on Monday morning.
The airport authorities wrote on its social media handle: “Flight operations resumed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata at 08:59 hrs, after it was closed for flight operation yesterday in view of Cyclone Remal.”
The first flight to depart on Monday was IndiGo’s Kolkata-Port Blair flight at 8.59 am while the first one to land in Kolkata was SpiceJet’s flight from Guwahati. It landed at 09.50 am, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) top official said.
According to information shared by the airport officials, there were about nine flight diversions. Three Air India Kolkata bound flights were diverted to Varanasi, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati. The authorities of Kolkata airport have decided to suspend flight operations for 21 hours from Sunday noon in view of the possible impact of cyclone Remal.
The authorities had suspended flight operations for 21 hours from Sunday noon in view of the possible impact of cyclone Remal.
On May 26, about 394 flights that were scheduled for arrival or departure, including domestic and international flights, were suspended from Sunday noon to Monday 9 am. This included 170 domestic tentative departures and 26 international tentative arrivals.
According to the information shared by Kolkata airport, from 9 am to 3:30 pm on May 27, the total number of domestic flights in both arrival and departure was 77.
The total number of international flights in both arrival and departure was 9.
