आगलागीमा सयवटा दोकानहरु नष्ट

20 अप्रेल(कालेबुङ):- दार्जीलिङ शहरको एचडी लामा रोडमा आज बिहानीपख भएको भयवह आगलागीको घटनामा लगभग एक सयवटा दोकानहरु जलेर नष्ट भएको छ। आज बिहान दुइबजी भएको यस घटनामा झण्डै पाँच करोड मूल्य बराबरको सम्पत्ति जलेर नष्ट भएको अनुमान गरिएको छ। बिहानीपख दुइ बजीदेखि शुरु भएको आगोलाई पाँच घण्टाको कठोर परिश्रमपछि सात बजी मात्र नियञ्त्रणमा ल्याउन सकिएको थियो। आगलागीले यहाँको एउटा होटललाई पनि नोक्सान पुर्यापएको छ तर होटलभित्र रहेका पर्यटकहरुलाई अप्नि समयमा नै सुरक्षित निकालिएको थियो। घटनाको लगत्तै दार्जीलिङ अग्निशमन विभागका तीनवटा दमकलहरु घटनास्थलमा पुगेर आगोमा नियञ्त्रणमा ल्याउने प्रयास शुरु गरे। पछि खरसाङबाट दुइवटा दमकल पनि मगाइएको थियो भने अग्निशमन वाहनसँगै आएको हरियाणाको एउटा धार्मिक संगठनको पनि सहयोग लिइयो। यस भयवह आगलागी काण्डलाई साम्य बनाउन जलपहाडस्थित 107 डीए रेजिमेन्टका जवान, दार्जीलिङ पुलिस, स्थानीय अनि हरयाणाबाट आएका स्वयंसेवी संगठनका कार्यकर्ताहरुले पनि सहयोग पुर्याङएका थिए। नगरपालिका अध्यक्ष अमर सिंह राईले बताए अनुसार घटनापछि नगरपालिकाले राहत कार्यको निम्ति राज्य सरकार अनि नगरपालिका मामिला मंत्रालयसँग बित्तिय मददको गुहार लगाएको छ। अग्निकाण्डका पिडीतहरुको सहयोगको निम्ति नगरपालिकाले राहत कोष पनि शुरु गरेको छ। यता, गोजमुमोले पनि पिडीतहरुको निम्ति हरसम्भव सहायता गर्ने प्रतिश्रुति दिएको छ। दार्जीलिङका सांसद जसवन्त सिंहले यस काण्डका पिडीतहरुको निम्ति पचास लाख रुपियाँ अनुमोदन गरिसकेको मोर्चा नेतृत्वले बताएको छ।

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Strike in Dooars on April 22 to thwart meet

Siliguri/Jalpaiguri, April 19: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad and a host of other outfits have called a 12-hour strike in the Dooars on April 22 to thwart a meeting in Nagrakata on that day by a forum of organisations seeking the inclusion of the plains in the administrative set-up for the Darjeeling hills.

The strike was announced today. The Parishad-led Dooars Terai Co-ordination Committee also wrote to the Jalpaiguri district magistrate, requesting her not to grant permission to its rivals to hold the public meeting.

The Nagrakata event will be held under the banner of the Joint Action Co-ordination Committee and addressed by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung.

The decision to call the strike was taken at a meeting attended by Rajesh Lakra, the general secretary of the Terai Dooars regional unit of the Parishad, and leaders of other constituents of the Dooars Terai Co-ordination Committee.

“We sent a letter to the Jalpaiguri district magistrate today, saying people in the Dooars and Terai are against the inclusion of the region in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. Any attempt to hold a meeting in the Dooars will lead to law and order problems,” said Lakra.

He said if the DM gave permission to hold the Nagrakata meeting, people would come down to the streets and “put up resistance”.

“The region might witness a spontaneous outburst of the people’s anger against the meeting. We want to prevent any such law and order problem,” said Lakra.

Asked about the letter to the DM, dissident Parishad leader John Barla, who had joined hands with the Morcha, said: “We had announced the meeting earlier this month. We had already deferred a 48-hour strike on the request of the state government which assured us that permission would be given to organise other forms of agitation. The meeting will be held in Nagrakata as scheduled and Morcha president Bimal Gurung will be the principal speaker.”

Barla, who is also the convener of the Joint Action Co-ordination Committee, said the plains would witness a tribal movement if permission was not granted for the meeting.(TT)

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रिङटाङ चियाकमान 23 अप्रेल देखि पुन खोलिने

19 अप्रेल(कालेबुङ):- कलकत्ता उच्च न्यायालयको आदेश पछि दार्जीलिङ जिल्ला प्रशासनले बन्द रिङटाङ चिया कमानका मालिकलाई श्रमिकहरुको बकाया राशि भुक्तान गर्न अनि आगामी सोमबारदेखि कमान पुन खोलाउने निर्देश दिएको छ। बन्द चियाकमानको समस्याबारे उच्च न्यायालयमा गरिएको जनहित याचिकाको संज्ञान लिँदै उच्च न्यायालयले कमानको समस्याको समाधान गर्ने दिशामा जिल्ला प्रशासनलाई पहल गर्ने निर्देश दिएपछि जिल्ला प्रशासनले यो पदक्षेप ग्रहण गरेको हो। बुधबार दार्जीलिङस्थित जिल्लापाल कार्यालयमा डाकिएको त्रिपक्षीय बैठकमा रिङटाङ चियाकमानका मालिक सुशिल चौधरीलाई जिल्लापाल एस मोहनले आगामी 23 अप्रेलदेखि कमान खोल्ने अनि बकाया राशिहरु भुक्तान गर्ने निर्देश दिएका छन। बुधबार जिल्लापालको कार्यालयमा सम्पन्न बैठकमा मोर्चाबाट महासचिव रोशन गिरी, कमानका मालिक सुशिल चौधरी, जिल्लापाल सौमित्र मोहन अनि श्रमिक संगठनका प्रतिनिधिहरु पीटी शेर्पा र सुरज सुब्बा उपस्थित थिए। रिङटाङ कमानको कारखाना सन 1996मा जलेदेखि यता यो कमान बन्द अवस्थामा छ।कमान बन्द भएपछि यहाँका 944जना श्रमिकहरुको परिवारले कष्टकर जीवन भोग्दै आइरहेका छन। चिया कमान खोल्ने माग गर्दै यहाँका श्रमिकहरुले दार्जीलिङ तराई डूवर्स प्लान्टेशन युनियनको नेतृत्वमा गत 26 मार्चदेखि नौ दिनको आमरण अनशन पनि गरेका थिए। युनियनको भनाई अनुसार कमान मालिकले 5 करोड, 70 लाख 30 हजार रुपियाँ भुक्तान गर्न बाँकी छ। जिल्लापालले कमान मालिकलाई यो राशि यो महिनाको अन्तिम सप्ताहसम्म चुक्ता गर्नु पर्ने निर्देश दिएको छ। यता, मालिकले यो राशि चुक्ता गर्न नसकेको खण्डमा कमानको लिज रद्द गरिनु पर्ने श्रमिक संगठनको भनाई छ। हिजो सम्पन्न भएको बैठकको अवधीमा कमानका श्रमिकहरुले जिल्लापाल कार्यालय परिसरमा धर्ना प्रदर्शन पनि गरेका थिए। अर्कोतिर, बैठकमा भएको सहमतिबारे जिल्लापाल एस मोहनले जानकारी दिएका छन।

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Order to open Ringtang

VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, April 18: The Darjeeling district magistrate has directed the owner of Ringtang tea garden, shut for 16 years, to reopen it on Monday and clear all workers’ dues within a month. Trade unions claimed that the dues had touched the Rs 5.7 crore mark and included transport and other reimbursable expenses from 1993 to 1996. “The (land reforms) tribunal had asked the district magistrate/collectorate to conduct a hearing and look into means to reopen the garden. Following the meeting, I directed the owner to open the garden from Monday and also to clear all the liabilities within a month,” said district magistrate Saumitra Mohan. P.T. Sherpa, the president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha affiliated Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union, said the workers would wait to see what the management would do. “We welcome the district magistrate’s order. According to our records, the management has a liability of Rs 5.7 crore, which the owner has to clear within a month,” he said. The management abandoned the garden in Sonada Valley after a devastating fire gutted the factory on December 19, 1996, following a labour unrest. At that time, 977 workers were on its rolls. The district administration had showcaused garden owner Sushil Chowdhury on November 1, 2007, and on July 8, 2009, asking why the renewed lease of 2002 should not be cancelled. Chowdhury had moved the land reforms tribunal challenging the administration’s showcause notices on the grounds that he should not be held responsible for situations beyond his control. The garden owner, who attended the meeting at the district magistrate’s office today, however, refused comment. “Since the matter is sub-judice, I would not like to comment on this issue,” he said. Asked what would happen in the event of non-compliance with the order, Mohan said: “We will apprise the state government of the development. Earlier, the administration had wanted to cancel the lease of the garden and had showcaused the management accordingly.” Industry sources said Chowdhury could appeal to the tribunal once again. In that case, the opening of the garden could be delayed. The government could consider cancelling the lease, if the owner does not appeal or fails to comply with the DM’s order, the sources said. A workers committee was formed in 1998 to run the shut garden. The workers were paid Rs 10 for every kilogram of tealeaves. From this amount, Re 1 was deducted as transport cost, trade union leaders said. Chowdhury, who had claimed he was not on the committee and had provided only the “technical know-how” to run it, had been accused of selling the plucked tea leaves to other gardens at a higher rate without having to pay salaries or other statutory benefits to the workers. Seven workers of Ringtang had been on strike from March 27 to April 4 under the Morcha union’s banner to demand the cancellation of the garden’s lease.(TT)

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Camera tabs on Siliguri

Traffic moves through Airview More in Siliguri on Wednesday. This is one of the 19 locations where cameras will be installed. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, April 18: Security surveillance cameras will be installed at 19 locations across Siliguri to monitor traffic and watch out for crime on roads. The decision was taken by the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority at a meeting held here today.

The meeting was attended by 113 SJDA members. They also gave their consent to the construction of a new college at Champasari and a climbing wall near Darjeeling More to encourage adventure sports.

“Installation of cameras is a unique project. Keeping in mind the need to monitor traffic and also movement of residents, we have decided to put such cameras at strategic locations across Siliguri. The cameras would help us to keep day-to-day update of the town and help in maintaining law and order ,” said SJDA chairman and Siliguri MLA Rudranath Bhattacharya.

The 19 important locations were identified at a meeting with district police officers two months back, Bhattacharya said. Darjeeling More, Panitanki More, Champasari, Station Feeder Road, Hill Cart Road and Hashmi Chowk are some of the spots where the cameras will be erected.

“These cameras have lenses which can move 180 degrees with the zoom. They can record videos and store it for one week and are weatherproof. The estimated price of each of these cameras is likely to be Rs 3 to Rs 4 lakh,” he said.

At the board meeting, it has been decided that the SJDA will also install decorated lights along the 12km stretch from Darjeeling More to Airport More in Bagdogra of NH31 to attract tourists and visitors.(TT)

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Forcible entry charge sparks ally war

Gautam Deb, Shankar Malakar

Siliguri, April 18: Darjeeling district president Shankar Malakar today accused Trinamul of using force to make its presence felt in the district’s rural belt ahead of next year’s panchayat polls, an allegation that has been met with a volley of protests and allegations from minister Gautam Deb.

Trinamul said Malakar’s outburst was prompted by the party’s “insecurity” about its support base in north Bengal — adding one more dimension to the uneasy, and often bitter, relation between the two parties. The rift had started over the sharing of the posts of the mayor and the chairperson, soon after the two parties won the Siliguri Municipal Corporation election in 2009.

In recent times, the relation between the allies have dipped all the more because of clashes between the student wings of the two outfits and the arrest of a Chhatra Parishad leader.

“Trinamul, which has a limited base in Siliguri town, is now forcibly trying to penetrate into the rural areas of Siliguri sub-division. A section of workers and leaders, who were with the CPM and have now joined Trinamul, is intimidating people, grabbing government land and trying to create tension in areas as a desperate move to garner support,” Malakar said today. “It seems to be a planned strategy to gain control in rural areas before the panchayat polls. However, we will not relent and continue our struggle with workers and supporters who have been with the Congress for decades.”

In Darjeeling district, of the three plains MLAs, two are from the Congress. The third is Trinamul’s Rudranath Bhattacharya, who represents Siliguri. Both Phansidewa and Matigara-Naxalbari, represented by Sunil Tirkey and Malakar in the Assembly, are in the rural belt.

The district Congress president said north Bengal development minister Deb, a Trinamul MLA from Jalpaiguri district, was keeping him in the dark about the development projects in the region. “It seems to be a politically-motivated move to keep us in the dark and announce projects like fire brigade and a disaster management training centre in Naxalbari without our knowledge. Although I am the local MLA, I am never consulted,” Malakar said.

The Congress has lined up a series of programmes starting from April 20 across Siliguri to mobilise support before the panchayat polls. In the seven-seat Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, equivalent to the zilla parishad, three belong to the Congress and the rest are from the CPM. Of the four panchayat samitis, two are under the Congress and the rest with the CPM. The Congress is also in power in 12 of the 22 gram panchayats.

“It is clear that the influence of Trinamul is confined to some pockets of the Siliguri town only. We don’t know if there will be any alliance. But we can hold on our own. We will organise meetings, rallies and other events from April 20 to May 17. State level leaders will visit the region to interact with the workers. Even today, we are the only and principal opposition of the Left Front in rural areas,” said Malakar.

Responding to the charges, Deb, who is the president of the Darjeeling district Trinamul, said it would be difficult for the Congress to retain its support.

“More and more people, from youths to elderly residents and women, are joining our party from the rural areas of Siliguri sub-division. This happened because of our performance and the fulfilment of commitments made by the chief minister,” he said.

“The Congress, whose representatives have failed to fulfil even the basic needs of people in the past 10 months after being elected, is suffering from the insecurity of losing support. So the party is levelling such baseless charges against us. The common people will understand that these leaders are trying to hide their failure,” Deb added.

Like the Congress, Mamata Banerjee’s party will also line up programmes in rural areas of Siliguri, the minister said.(TT)

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Hill tourists taken for a ride - Travel agents rake in money with trips to ruined Rock Garden

Darjeeling, April 17: Tourists in Darjeeling are visiting parks and spots that are in a shambles as tour operators are doing little to warn them what to expect.

The Rock Garden and Gangamaya Park are examples of sites that have nothing to offer in terms of sights but which are still getting tourists who are paying out nearly Rs 700 for a car ride there.

The garden and the park, constructed by the DGHC in the mid-90s, were among the top tourist hotspots in Darjeeling till they were devastated by Cyclone Aila in 2009.

A beautiful garden set up among the rocks of the Gangamaya falls — known as the Rock Garden — and the adjacent Gangamaya Park with an artificial lake are in a shambles with no initiative being taken by the DGHC to restore the sites.

Tourists used to enjoy boating in the lake and most of them would spend half-a-day at the location.

The ride to the point, about 12km from Darjeeling, though slightly steep in gradient, offered a picturesque and panoramic view of the hills as one passes through the lush green Orange Valley tea garden. The road, too, is in a total mess now.

Hundreds of unsuspecting tourists are still being ferried to the spot and none are returning with pleasant memories.

A tour operator said even now nearly 100 people visit the park and garden in the peak tourist season.

Tapan Pal from Kadamtala, Howrah, said: “We are very disappointed after visiting the place. The road is very scary and we couldn’t enjoy much. There is nothing to see there.”

Most of the tourists said neither the hoteliers nor travel agents or even drivers cautioned them against visiting the place.

“We had heard a lot about Rock Garden and Gangamaya Park and they simply told us that they would charge us Rs 700 per vehicle. We should have been cautioned by someone,” said Pal.

The interactions with the visitors are more than enough to suggest that those involved in the tourism industry in Darjeeling “are only interested in making quick bucks”.

Pradip Lama, the secretary of the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents, admitted that tourists were being taken for a ride.

“I admit that Rock Garden and Gangamaya Park are in ruins and still, tourists are taken there. When tourists approach drivers asking for suggestions on sight-seeing, they never tell the guests about the spot to avoid.”

Lama, however, said he always tried his best to stop tourists from visiting the place. “Yet, some insist on going to the Rock Garden as they have heard a lot about the place. If there are tourists aged above 60, I would ensure that they do not go to the spot as the road is in a bad condition.”

The association secretary said if he had to send tourists to Rock Garden and Gangamaya, he combined the tour with a visit to Peace Pagoda.

“We tell them that the garden is in a shambles but they will get a panoramic view of the hills while driving to the place. The tourists at least enjoy the ride,” said Lama.

A driver, who did not want to be named, said after visiting Rock Garden and Gangamaya Park, tourists invariably told them that they would never go there again.

The tourists seem to be unimpressed with the entire state of affairs in Darjeeling.

Anusua Dasgupta from Agartala said: “I had always wanted to come to Darjeeling but the visit has disappointed me. The road to Rock Garden is non-existent. We have just returned from Sikkim which is much better than Darjeeling. The tourist points are well kept, roads are better, the place is cleaner and traffic is smooth. I wonder whether there is any writ of administration in Darjeeling. Everyone is interested in quick bucks.”

The DGHC administrator, Anil Verma, said there were no immediate plans to renovate the garden and the park. “The devastation is massive and a huge investment would be required for the repair. We are not in a position to fund the renovation at the moment. Maybe, it can be taken up later,” said Verma.(TT)

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United Sikkim enters I-League - Draw for Bhaichung boys

Gangtok, April 17: United Sikkim entered the I-League with a 1-1 draw against Mohammedan Sporting in the final match of the second division here today.

Bhaichung Bhutia’s boys are the second team from the Northeast to make it to the I-League first division after Lajong FC. Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling was among the 15,000 supporters who thronged Paljor Stadium to cheer for the home team.

United Sikkim took the lead in the 30th minute through a penalty. Winger Thoi Singh of the Calcutta club was brought down in the box leading to the spot kick that was converted into a goal for United Sikkim by striker Daniel Bidemi.

Mohammedan Sporting found the equaliser through Alfred Jaryan in the 55th minute. The rest of the match was of missed chances for both the sides and the game ended in a draw.

As Mohammedan Sporting was third on the points table, only a win against United Sikkim would have ensured its birth in the I-League.

The draw gave one point to both the clubs but the tally of United Sikkim reached 22, one more than that of the Calcutta club.

ONGC Mumbai had qualified for the I-League with 22 points yesterday. Only two teams from the second division I-League are promoted to the senior division.

United Sikkim co-owner Bhaichung, who played as a substitute for 20 minutes in the second half, dedicated the team’s I-League qualification to the supporters.

“It is a very exciting moment for United Sikkim to qualify for the I-League. My dream to take the club to the I-League has finally come true. The hard work has finally paid off and I hope that United Sikkim will give an equally good performance in the I-League,” said Bhaichung.

“The amount of support we got from the home crowd was amazing. I will be visiting all schools in the next few days to thank students for their support. I also thank the chief minister for watching the match today,” said Bhaichung.

Top officials of FidelisWorld, a co-owner of United Sikkim, were also in the gallery.

“We congratulate Bhaichung and his team for entering into I-League within two years of the club’s inception. Now, our goal is to become the most professional club in India,” said A. Krishnan, the executive chairman of the Dubai-based group.

With United Sikkim finding a place in the I-League, premier clubs like East Bengal, Mohan Bagan and Dempo SC will play their away matches at Paljor Stadium when the season starts in September-October. It has been several years since a top national club played in Sikkim.(TT)

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Strike off, nod to protest meets - Govt agrees to Karam holiday

Calcutta, April 17: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and John Barla-led forum decided to “indefinitely defer” its 48-hour proposed strike after a “very cordial” discussion with the government this afternoon.

Both sides told journalists that tomorrow’s strike had been put off because the government was willing to allow meetings and rallies by the Joint Action Co-ordination Committee, which has the Morcha and the rebel faction of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad among its 26 constituents. The committee wants the Dooars and the Terai to come under the jurisdiction of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

The government said strikes were not welcome as they hampered economic growth but said other form of protests like rallies could be held. It also agreed to ask garden owners in the Dooars and Terai to declare a holiday on Karam, a tribal festival held in September-October.

“We were not being allowed to conduct meetings and rallies even in areas where we command strong support. That was not acceptable to us. The government has agreed to let us conduct such programmes in areas we dominate. That is primarily why we are deferring the strike,” said Sukra Munda, an adivasi leader who led the delegation that met north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb at the Writers’ Buildings today.

The Darjeeling administration had refused to give permission to the committee to hold a meeting in the Hanskhowa tea garden on Saturday. Two of its processions were also stopped by police on Sunday near Siliguri, one at Bagdogra and the other near the Bhaktinagar.

The committee had called the strike in response to a two-day shutdown announced by a forum of outfits on April 10 and 11 to protest the demand to bring the Terai and Dooars under the GTA. However, the anti-GTA forum scaled down the strike to one day (April 10) at the request of industries minister Partha Chatterjee.

“We have told the government that the inclusion of the Dooars and Terai in the GTA is our primary demand for the long overdue development of the region. But we were told that the government would have to wait for the high-powered committee’s recommendations according to the GTA agreement,” said Munda.

Minister Deb later said the government was in “no position” to make any commitments till the high-powered panel set up to look into the territorial demand submitted its recommendations.

“Under the terms of the GTA agreement and Act, the government cannot make promises,” said Deb.

The forum was also “pleased” with the government’s decision to ask tea garden owners to allow a day’s leave for Karam festival in north Bengal.

“It’s an important festival there and we are going to ask tea garden owners to declare it a holiday. There shouldn’t be a problem,” said Deb. Till now, a day’s wage was deducted if garden labourers skipped work on Karam.

The minister added that the government was “really keen” on doing away with strikes as they hampered work on development projects. Tea planters and tour operators had appealed to the government to intervene when the two rival outfits declared almost back-to-back bandhs stretching to 96 hours.

More than 2 lakh tourists are expected in north Bengal, which includes the Darjeeling hills and the Dooars and Terai, and Sikkim in the next two months, a tour operator had said earlier.

“We cannot have disruptive activities in the region. We are going to dissuade every organisation from calling strikes. A disruption-free environment is imperative for the long overdue economic growth of the region,” said Deb.

“They can hold rallies and meetings as forms of protests but not any disruptive activities,” added the minister.

The committee’s rivals, however, claimed today that fear of retaliation by the common people and the absence of a support base prompted the Barla group to withdraw their strike.

“The meeting with the state government acted as face-saver for those who had called the 48-hour strike starting tomorrow. They tried to imitate us but forgot that they lack the minimum support base in the Dooars and Terai, where people are vehemently against the inclusion of even an inch of land in the GTA,” said Birsa Tirkey, the state president of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Parishad that has expelled Barla.(TT)

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वाहन दुर्घटनमा पाचँको मृत्यु चारजना घाइते

17 अप्रेल(कालेबुङ):- तीव्र गतिमा गाडी हाक्ने होड्मा पाँचजना यात्रीहरुले ज्यान गुमाउनु परेको छ भने रहल चारजना यात्रीहरुलाई घाइते अवस्थामा विभिन्न क्षेत्रका अस्पतालहरुमा भर्ना गरिएको छ। सोमबार दार्जीलिङबाट यात्रीहरु लिएर गान्तोकतिर गइरहेको एसके 01-जे 0578 नम्बर भएको म्याक्स वाहनका चालकले राजमार्ग 31एमा नियञ्त्रण हराउँदा यो दूर्घटना भएको थियो। राजमार्ग 31एको चित्रे क्षेत्रको लाप्चेझोडा नजिक गोलाईमा चालकले नियञ्त्रण गुमाउँदा वाहन राजमार्गबाट लगभग दुइसय मिटरमुनि टिस्टा नदीमा पसेको थियो। यस भयवह दूर्घटनामा चालकलगायत वाहनमा सवार कूल दसजना यात्रीहरुमध्ये पाँचजनाको घटनास्थल मै मृत्यु भएको छ। पाँचजना घाइतेहरुमध्ये शोचनीय अवस्थाका दुइजनालाई सिलगढी लगिएको छ भने दुइजनाको कालेबुङ महकुमा अस्पतालमा उपचार चलिरहेको छ। बाहनका चालक सोनाम भुटियालाई घटनापछि मल्ली स्वस्थ्य केन्द्रमा भर्ना गरिएको थियो। हिजो भएको दूर्घटना मर्नेहरु दार्जीलिङको हरिदासहट्टाका वासिन्दा दम्पति उदय प्रधान अनि सुनिता प्रधान, जलपहाड निवासी प्रभात तामाङ, पाँचमाइल तादोङ्की मनिका राई अनि सिक्किमकै सुवेष्ना सुब्बाको रुपमा चिन्हित गरिएको पुलिसले बताएको छ। घाइतेहरुमा मन्सोङका जयबहादुर राई, जलढकाका अनुराग गुरुङ, रम्फू सिक्किमकी मञ्जु शेर्पा अनि प्रेमिका राई रहेका छन। यो दूर्घटना हिजो अपराह्न लगभग 3 बजेर 40मिनटतिर भएको थियो। राजमार्गबाट वाहन धेरैचोटी पल्टिँदै टिस्टा नदीको किनारमा पस्न पुगेको थियो। वाहनमा सवार पाँचजनाको घटनास्थलमै मृत्यु भएको थियो भने जीवित अवस्थामा गाडीभित्र थुनिएका घाइतेहरुलाई टिस्टामा र्याघफ्टिङ सञ्चालन गर्ने गोताखोरहरुले तत्कालै उद्धार गरी बचाएका हुन। टिस्टा नदीमा पर्यटकहरुलाई र्याञफ़्टिङ गराइरहेका गाइडहरुले वाहन दूर्घटनाग्रस्त भएर खोलामा पसेको देखे पछि तत्कालै र्या‍फ़्टिङको सवारी रोकेर बचाउ अभियान शुरु गरेका थिए। गोताखोरहरुले पहिले जीविताहरुलाई वाहनबाट सुरक्षित निकालेर किनारमा ल्याएका थिए। त्यसपछि यात्रीहरुको शवहरु पनि उनीहरुले नै उद्धार गरेका थिए। यस घटनामा टिस्टाका र्याछफ्टिङ गाइडहरुले निर्वाह गरेको भुमिकाको कालेबुङ पुलिस,मृतक अनि घाइतेका आफन्तजन र जनमानसले सराहना गरेका छन। गोताखोरहरुले घटना भएलगत्तै तत्परताकासाथ अभियान चलाएर घाइतेहरुको ज्यान बचाएर मानवताको उदाहरण प्रस्तुत गरेका छन।
यता, घटनाका प्रत्यक्षीदर्शी अनि घाइतेहरुले वहनका चालकको लापरवाहीले गर्दा नै 5 जनाले ज्यान गुमाउनु परेको आरोप लगाएका छन। वाहनका चालक सोनाम भुटियाले दार्जीलिङदेखि नै तीव्र गतिमा वाहन हाक्दै आइरहेका छन। यात्राको अवधीमा यात्रीहरुले उनलाई वाहन धिमा गतिमा कुदाउने अनुरोध गर्दै आइरहेका थिए। दूर्घटना हुनभन्दा केही समय अघि पनि चित्रेस्थित सेनाको छाउनीनजिक तेज गतिमा रहेको उक्त वाहनले एउटा अल्टो कारलाई हल्का धक्का दिएको थियो। यस कुरालाई लिएर दुवै चालकहरुबीच सामान्य भनावैरी पनि भएको घाइतेहरुको भनाई छ। भनावैरी पछि उक्त अल्टोकारलाई ओभरटेक गरेर तेज गतिमा बढेको सो मेक्स गाडीका चालकले केही अघि पुगेपछि नियञ्त्रण हराउँदा दूर्घटना भएको घाइते जयबहादुर राईले एच पी सी समाचारलाई बताएका छन।

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दार्जीलिङको सानो रेल लिक बाहिर

17 अप्रेल(कालेबुङ):-सोमबार दार्जीलिङको सानो रेलले लिक छोडेर पर्यटकहरुलाई भयभित पारे पनि कुनै गम्भीर दूर्घटना भने भएन। दार्जीलिङबाट घूमसम्मको जोय राइडको अवधीमा कागझोडामा यो दूर्घटना हुन पुगेको थियो। कागझोडामा पुगेर टोयट्रेन लिक बाहिर हुदाँ नजिकमा रहेको एउटा दोकानलाई सामान्य क्षति पुगे पनि कुनै ज्यानमालको नोक्सान भने भएन। यो दूर्घटना सोमबार बिहान पाउने एघारको समयमा भएको थियो जब पर्यटकहरु लिएर जोयराइड घूमतर्फ गइरहेको थियो। घटनास्थलनजिक रहेका दोकानको एल्मुनियम सिट रेलको ट्रयाकमा राखिएको कारण दूर्घटना हुनपुगेको थियो। टोयट्रेनको अन्तिम डब्बा लिकमा राखिएको सिटबाट चिप्लिएर लिकबाहिर भेको थियो। ट्रेनको दुवै डब्बामा यात्रीहरु थिए। यस दिन कूल 31 जना पर्यटकहरुले टोयट्रेनको यात्राको आनन्द उठाइ रहेका थिए। मध्याह्नसम्म रेललाई लिकमा हालेर पुन यात्रा शुरु गर्दा केवल 5/6 जना यात्रीहरुले मात्र बाकीँ यात्रा पूरा गरे, रहल यात्रीहरुले डरको कारण सानो रेलको सवारीको मजा लिन मानेनन। दार्जीलिङ हिमालयन रेलवे कर्तृपक्षले यस घटनाको सन्दर्भमा रेलवे ट्रेकनजिकका दोकानहरु बिरुद्ध पुलिसमा आपती जाहेर गर्ने निर्णय लिएका छन। दोकानहरु रेलवे ट्र्याकदेखि कम्तिमा पनि 6 फिटको दूरीमा हुनु पर्ने डीएचाअर अधिकृतको भनाई छ तर हालमा रेलको लीक र दोकानको दूरत्व 1 फिट पनि रहेको छैन।

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Advertisement of gambling near schools building

rangpo-17 april12
The big hoarding installed near Bhanu Park at Singtam in national highway 31a is a big questioned by local residents .according to the news the hoardings of mahazong cashino is installed in such places where two school is established and approx one thousand students has to use that path and gate .from the nearby gate the students of government senior secondary school Singtam and one private school has to go and come .it is suspected that the negative images is suspect to come from such type of hoarding.acccording to the notification also the advertisement of gambling and liquar cum such type of business open in an around 100 meter area of educational institute area but in Singtam installed just in the gate of school is a big questioned.

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5 killed in Teesta car crash

RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Jai Bahadur Rai at the Kalimpong subdivisional hospital on Monday. (Chinlop Fudong Lepcha) Kalimpong, April 16: Five persons were killed and five others injured when the car they were travelling in fell into the Teesta near Chitre this afternoon. Police said the SUV that was on its way to Gangtok from Darjeeling skidded off NH31A and fell into the river about 250 feet below around 4pm. The accident spot between Chitre and Laborbote is 14km from here. The deceased are Uday Pradhan and his wife Sunita, residents of Haridashatta in Darjeeling, Prabhat Tamang of Jalapahar in Darjeeling, Manisha Rai of 5th Mile in Sikkim and Manju Sharma of Rangpo. The injured persons, Anushka Gurung of Jaldhaka, Jai Bahadur Rai of Mungsong, Rebecca Rai of Melli and Syanli Rai from Rangpo have been admitted to the Kalimpong subdivisional hospital. “Sonam Yangchen Bhutia, the driver of the vehicle, is undergoing treatment at the primary health centre in Melli. He lost control of the vehicle and it swerved off the highway,” said a source. He added that the car was a share taxi. Rafters from Melli had been despatched to the accident spot 4km away. “We managed to rescue five persons who were seated in the rear seat of the jeep. We were also able to retrieve the bodies of the five persons who perished in the mishap. Half of the jeep was immersed in the river while the other half was on the riverbank when we reached the spot,” said Roshan Bhujel, the vice-president of the Teesta-Rangeet Raft Owners’ Association.(TT)

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Govt invites GTA forum for talks on strike

Rajesh Lakra (second from right) and other Parishad leaders at the district collectorate in Jalpaiguri on Monday. Picture by Biplab Basak

Siliguri, April 16: The state government will tomorrow hold talks with representatives of organisations which have called a strike in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts on April 18 and 19 for the inclusion of the Dooars and Terai in the set-up for the hills.

The invitation for the talks at Writers’ Buildings was sent to John Barla, the convener of the Joint Action Co-ordination Committee that has called the strike. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is a constituent of the committee.

North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb said the government would request the leaders of the committee to withdraw the strike as disruptive activities would hit the economic growth of the region. “The government is relentlessly trying to dissuade all organisations from calling strikes. We will hold talks with the John Barla group (of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad) and other associations tomorrow and request them to call off the strike,” said Deb.

“We would like to tell them that the government is not against rallies and other forms of agitation, but they should refrain from strikes or any other disruptive activity which will have a negative effect on the region’s economy or will deteriorate law and order.”

The committee had called the strike in response to a shutdown announced by a forum of outfits on April 10 and 11 to protest the demand to bring the Terai and Dooars under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. However, the anti-GTA forum scaled down the strike to one day (April 10) at the request of industries minister Partha Chatterjee.

Barla said a seven-member delegation from the committee would attend the meeting tomorrow.

“We have received an invitation from minister Gautam Deb. A seven-member delegation will sit with ministers and officials. If the government appeals to us to withdraw the strike, the delegates will consult with other leaders before making any announcement. They will ask the ministers to promise us in writing that 349 mouzas in the plains will be made a part of the GTA,” said Barla.

The official faction of the Parishad said its supporters would hit the streets if the Barla group and other outfits went ahead with the 48-hour strike.

“We had scaled down our strike by one day on the basis of the government’s assurance that there would be no fresh problems in the Terai and Dooars. However, if these people (Barla and others) observe the strike, we will not sit idle and scuttle the strike with the help of the common people,” said Rajesh Lakra, the general secretary of the Dooars-Terai regional unit of the Parishad.(TT)

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Toy train derails in darjeeling

Picture by Suman Tamang

The rear bogie of a toy train derailed five minutes after it left the Darjeeling station on Monday morning.

An official of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway said the compartment jumped off the narrow gauge when a bundle of aluminium sheets kept at a hardware shop fell on the tracks.

The train with two compartments was on the way to Jorebunglow station uphill and had 16 tourists. Since the toy trains move very slowly and the tracks are on the road, none of the passengers was injured when the rake derailed at 10.45am.

Purnabha Bose, a tourist from Calcutta, said: “We felt a jerk and then we found out that our bogie had jumped the tracks.”

The DHR officials said they would file an FIR against the shopowner. Most of the railway land, right from the Darjeeling station to Sukna, has been encroached upon. The ride resumed after the bogie was put back on the tracks an hour later.(TT)

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Incite finger at tea union - CPRM protests work hours, planters fear for law & order

VIVEK CHHETRI
Darjeeling, April 16: Planters in Darjeeling have decided to inform the administration about a trade union’s alleged attempt to instigate labourers to go against the work hours fixed through an agreement.

They said the administration should hold the Darjeeling-Terai-Dooars Chia Kaman Mazdur Union responsible if there was a law and order problem in the gardens.

Although the Mazdur Union is not a force to be reckoned with in the hills, the garden owners fear that the provocation might spiral out of control as “workers’ issue appeals to all political parties”.

The Mazdur Union affiliated to the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM) has been demanding that the eight-hour a day work time fixed for a garden labourer should also include his one-hour lunch break.

But the agreement signed with the planters and the unions on January 21, 2012, says “a worker would be working for eight hours in a day for the day’s wage and the lunchbreak would not be included in the working hours throughout the year”.

The tea unions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, the CPRM and the Congress had been signatories to the agreement with the Darjeeling Tea Association (the planters’ body).

Of late, the CPRM union had been opposing the exclusion of the lunch break. The union said the earlier practice of including the lunch break in the eight-hour work schedule was still followed in the tea gardens of the Dooars and the Terai and there was no reason why the Darjeeling plantations should deviate.

Sandeep Mukherjee, principal adviser to the Darjeeling Tea Association, said: “The agreement was signed by K.B. Subba and D.K. Rasaily on behalf of the CPRM’s trade union. The fact that a worker needs to put in eight hours of work is in accordance with the Plantation Labour Act, 1951. But the CPRM union is lying to the workers and instigating them to go against the agreement, which has made the situation explosive in the gardens.”

“We will soon write to the assistant labour commissioner and the district magistrate requesting them to take note of the situation and hold the union responsible for any possible breach in the law and order in the gardens,” he added.

K.B. Subba, general secretary of the Mazdur Union, insisted that the new agreement must be scrapped. “We discussed the agreement with our party colleagues and we have decided to oppose the deviation. The agreement must be scrapped and the working hours must be reverted to the earlier practice to include the lunch break.”

Asked about the agreement which has his signature, Subba said: “Before signing the agreement we had protested. But the predominant union (which is affiliated to the Morcha) signed the deal and we could do little. We had only agreed on the need to improve the work culture in the gardens but we cannot agree on nine hours of work (including lunch) which is against the Plantation Labour Act, 1951.”

Section 19 (sub-section 1) of the Plantation Labour Act, 1951, states: “Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work on any plantation in excess of forty-eight hours a week and adolescent or child for many than twenty seven hours a week.”

Md Rizwan, joint labour commissioner of north Bengal, said: “The Act states that the workers have to put in eight hours of actual work.”

More than 80 per cent of the 55,000 permanent work force in nearly 60 gardens under the DTA are members of the Morcha union, which is backing the new agreement. The DTA is the dominant planters’ organisation in the hills.

The rest of the 87 gardens that produce the premier Darjeeling tea haven’t yet drawn up any new agreement yet on the work hours.

Suraj Subba, general secretary of the Morcha-affiliated Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union, said: “All the parties have agreed to stick to the provisions of the Plantation Labour Act and no worker is putting in nine hours of work. The CPRM which has signed the agreement is trying to politicise the issue.”

Subba said the workers would stand to gain during wage and bonus negotiation if production turned out to be good.

Asked why the industry was apprehensive when the dominant union was by its side, a planter said: “It does not take much time for a workers’ issue to spiral out of control. Then all political parties try to cash in on it.”(TT)

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CID moves Facebook for image source

Calcutta, April 16: Bengal’s criminal investigation department (CID) has written to Facebook in its efforts to track down those responsible for uploading four Internet pictures lampooning chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

If the CID persists with the drive, it will mean that the government is keen to take its crackdown beyond the circulation of unpalatable digital content and to its very source of origin.

The CID’s cyber crime cell had earlier written to Facebook and Google asking them to delete objectionable material but never before had it tried to reach the source.

Requests for deleting content considered objectionable or inflammatory are neither unusual nor unreasonable. But attempts are usually not made to trace the source, not only because of the complex nature of the hunt but also because of the futility as someone else can post something else from some other country in the seamless information age.The investigating agency has asked the US-based social networking site to provide IP addresses of the computers from where the four images were uploaded.

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a numerical tag assigned to each computer and it helps track down the Internet service provider. Once the service provider is located, law enforcers can use the IP to locate the computer or computers used to upload the jokes.

But the IP address identifies the subscriber of an Internet connection, not the person who has used the connection to post something on a website. If someone other than the subscriber with access to the connection posts something on a website, the IP address would remain the same. Hence, in the West, an IP address is rarely sufficient to establish that someone has done something wrong on the Internet.

Police today described the images as caricatures of the Bengal chief minister. “The pictures are not cartoons. These are original faces of the chief minister in which her features have been distorted to give her a different look,” a CID officer said.

Changing the features of well-known personalities is a design device used worldwide by the media, including The Telegraph, to reflect the particular mood that an event or statement may evoke.

CID sources confirmed tonight that the Sonar Kella joke, over which a Jadavpur University professor was arrested last week, was not among the four for which Facebook has been asked to start a probe.

In the letter addressed “To whom it may concern” and mailed to the Facebook headquarters at Menlo Park, California, the CID mentioned a complaint lodged by a Trinamul Congress activist in New Town last week. That Suman Naskar, the Trinamul activist from Mahishbathan, on the fringes of New Town, had filed the complaint was reported on Sunday.

Naskar, in his mid-30s, had mentioned in his complaint that a section of youths had uploaded morphed pictures of the chief minister to malign her character.

“We will try to track down those who uploaded the pictures before it flooded the walls of hundreds of Facebook users,” an officer said.(TT)

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Rallies bring back unrest memories - Protest panic grips tourism sector

Siliguri, April 15: Three rallies brought out by outfits opposed to each other over the jurisdiction of the hill set-up kept police busy in Siliguri today as they mobilised forces, tear gas shells and a water cannon to quell possible confrontation between the two sides. The air of uncertainty that hung over Siliguri, the gateway to Darjeeling and Sikkim, came at a time when the region is expecting 2 lakh tourists over the next two months.

Around 100 police personnel equipped with water cannons, tear gas and armed with sticks, shields, and guns stood along Hill Cart Road that leads to the hills from Darjeeling More onwards. The water cannon was planted in Dagapur, the entry point to Siliguri on NH55. The force was also guarding Panchanoi, a little ahead of Dagapur.

Forces were also posted at Salugara on NH31 and in Bagdogra, points of possible confrontation, to prevent both the sides from reaching each other. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-led joint action committee brought out two of the three processions.

“It brought back memories of 2007-2008. Tourism was hit and the footfall figure was down by 60 per cent till 2010,” said Raj Basu, adviser to the Eastern Himalaya Tour and Travel Operators’ Association. That year, the Gorkhaland movement was revived in the Darjeeling hills. The Morcha movement gained momentum in 2009 (see chart below). The tourism sector started reviving with the signing of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration agreement last year. “That dip in footfall was almost gone during the Pujas last year.”

North Bengal, which includes Darjeeling and the foothills, gets around 2 lakh visitors every year. “People tour an entire circuit like the Darjeeling-Dooars-Terai-Sikkim, which is why we don’t have figures for a particular area. But Darjeeling has an annual footfall of nearly 3.5 lakh tourists. Of them, 60 per cent, almost 2 lakh, visit in summer, that is now. And all of them pass through Siliguri,” Deepak Gupta, the general secretary of EHTTOA, said.

The tourist season starting from the middle of March continues till May-end. “That is, till the board results are out and the monsoon begins. Today’s rallies were not taken out in the hills but here. Siliguri is the entry point to the hills and Sikkim. Any unrest here will hurt hill tourism the most,” said a tour operator.

Barun Saha, a businessman, who lives near Bagdogra, said he heard the pro-GTA procession shouting slogans and feared that their rivals would come up any moment. “We could hear them shout slogans in favour of plains territory in the hill-set-up. Agitation like this one cause tension in the Terai. We were fortunate the anti-GTA lobby did not assemble or else, the situation could have turned complicated,” said Saha.

The Morcha wants the Gorkha-dominated areas from the Terai and the Dooars to be made part of the GTA, a demand that has caused outrage among the plains outfits — 26 organisations that have come under a banner to plan protests.

Around 15 members of the plains forum or the anti-GTA group tried to march towards Sukna but were stopped by the police at Dagapur, a district intelligence officer said. “Four people were detained,” the officer said.

Simultaneously at 2.30pm, 150-200 Morcha workers were stopped at Panighata More before Bagdogra, 15km from Siliguri. The police persuaded them to return.

The police patrolling was relaxed around 5pm when news arrived that the Morcha-led Joint Action Committee had cancelled its rally in Dagapur and would not be coming to Siliguri because of rain.

But some slogan-shouting Morcha members and the rebel faction of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad marched from Salugara to Bhaktinagar police station, another entry point to Siliguri town. “Elaborate arrangements were made at Bagdogra, Darjeeling More, Panchanoi, and adjacent areas of Pintail Village. No untoward incident has been reported,” said Darjeeling superintendent of police Kunal Agarwal.(TT)

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Traders’ strike woes: loss, snub and apathy

Jalpaiguri, April 15: The business community in north Bengal has complained that in the absence of a “negotiating lever”, it has failed to convince political parties to refrain from strikes.

Stakeholders in tea and tourism sectors said pleas to political parties to withdraw strikes often ended in snubs. The government too was inconsistent in its efforts to end shutdowns, they said.

“If strikes are not related to the industry, we don’t have any lever to negotiate with or create pressure. If it was related to tea wages, we could have sat with the trade unions. But here, nobody is willing to listen to us,” said a planter from the Dooars, with its 258 gardens. The Terai has 80 estates.

Garden owners said appeals to government had not produced the desirable results.

“At several meetings with government representatives and ministers, we had asked them to do something about strikes. But we have not seen the results of our pleas. In the past few years, tea production has been hit because of general strikes in the Terai and the Dooars. On every strike day, production suffers a setback, leading to loss of man-days, tea leaves and expenditure made on other inputs,” said Amritangshu Chakraborty, the principal adviser to the Indian Tea Planters’ Association.

Requests were also made through trade unions, planters said. “We reminded the unions that workers’ livelihood was affected by strikes. But no organisation is willing to listen to us,” said a garden owner.

He said whether the “strike was called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha or the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Parishad, the loss was the same”.

“We suffer a production loss of Rs 12-14 crore daily, if there is a shutdown,” said the planter. “Political parties have made it clear to us that our pleas would not cut much ice as we are not capable of meeting their demands.”

Often traders and shopkeepers have called a strike to protest a strike.

“Strikes of any kind hinder economic growth,” admitted Samarendra Prasad Biswas, general secretary of the North Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industries. “On any strike day, traders incur a transaction loss of Rs 25-30 crore.”

Asked if appeals had been made to any political party which had called a particular strike, a representative of a trade body based at Birpara in the Dooars said: “We had approached particular organisations and parties which had called strikes with pleas to withdraw them. But we have been turned away, snubbed and labelled as a section that is interested only in profits and not in the common man.”

The business community has complaints against the government too.

“We had approached the state government many times but their initiative had not been consistent. For example, two 48-hour strikes had been called this month. While the government held a meeting with one side, which scaled down their protest to 24 hours, no one met the rivals.”

The tourism sector incurs a loss of Rs 50 lakh a day when there is a shutdown. “We had appealed to government representatives and leaders of political parties via the media with requests to either intervene or withdraw strikes. No positive response has been received so far,” said Raj Basu, adviser to the Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators’ Association.

The government claimed that it was doing its job. “The high-power committee is yet to submit its recommendations. We feel there is no justification to call a strike now,” said north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb. He was referring to a panel that has been looking into the Morcha demand to include some of the plains mouzas in the hill set-up. Both the Morcha and the government have agreed to abide by the panel’s recommendations.(TT)

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Sikkim to get soccer school for U-14

Gangtok, April 15: The All India Football Federation will set up a regional academy in Sikkim along with seven other places in the country to train Under-14 players, the best of whom will be picked up for the national youth team.

All the eight regional academies will come up by the end of 2013 and the newly constructed Football House in Gangtok is likely to house the facility in Sikkim.

AIFF senior vice-president Subrata Dutta said the first academy would be opened in Mumbai next month. “The AIFF is planning to start eight regional football academies in the country for U-14 players. They will be ready by 2013. Sikkim will also have an academy. We require playground, educational arrangements and accommodation for the children to set up the academies,” Dutta told The Telegraph.

Dutta said each academy would train 30 students. “We are also setting up two football centres of excellence for U-16 players. The boys who perform well in the regional academies will graduate to the two centres and they will form the core of the national football youth team.”

Dutta was here last week with I-league chief executive officer Sunanda Dhar to watch the ongoing second division matches.

Apart from Mumbai and Sikkim, the academies will be established in Pune, Kalyani (Bengal), New Delhi and Bangalore. The AIFF is yet to decide on the location of the two other academies.

Although no final decision has been reached on the location of the academy in Sikkim, there are indications that it will function from the new Football House in the state capital.

“The regional academy has been our long-awaited dream. It will be a boost for budding players in the state. A few years back, the SFA (Sikkim Football Association) had proposed to start the academy in the newly constructed four-storied football house in Gangtok. The AIFF has given the in-principal approval to set up the academy at the Football House,” said SFA general secretary Menla Ethenpa.

The Football House was set up with funds granted by the Fifa under its Goal project to provide boarding and training facilities to the players.

I-league CEO Dhar said the academy was just the beginning as far as soccer growth in Sikkim was concerned.

“People in Sikkim are passionate about football. We want the game to grow further here so that more Bhaichung Bhutias can be produced. The SFA needs to organise more football development programmes for youths, besides conducting training for referees and coaches. It must also develop infrastructure for the AIFF to organise national and international tournaments in Sikkim,” he said.

Dhar said although the infrastructure at Paljor Stadium was good, the ground had to be developed to hold bigger tournaments.

“I cannot see why I-League matches cannot be held here but for that, United Sikkim has to qualify. The stadium needs to be developed as I-league matches are telecast live and arrangements must be made to erect television cameras. Besides, floodlights are also required.”(TT)

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