Tea lay-off alarm as rain eludes Dooars

Siliguri, May 13: Tea planters in the Dooars and Terai have warned that they may be forced to slash the number of work days or lay off hands if the near-dry spell because of lack of rain continues for another 15 days. “Unless there is an improvement in the weather, the owners might not be able to provide enough working days to the labourers. We will be forced to either reduce the number of working days or lay off some labourers,” said U.B. Das, the secretary of the Terai Indian Planters’ Association. The Dooars have received 60mm rainfall from January till now. Last year, the gardens in the region had got 105mm of rainfall from January to mid-April. The lack of rain has also compounded the problem of mites and other insects that have started destroying fresh leaves. “The tea estates in the Terai have been reeling from severe drought-like conditions for over a considerable period…. While some plantations got scanty rainfall in March, others got a bit of drizzle in April. Both are inadequate for the industry,” said Das. “Without the adequate showers, the gardens witnessed a sharp increase in pest and mite attacks, resulting in the destruction of tea bushes. Although we are irrigating the bushes, it cannot control the pest attacks and the cost of production has increased by Rs 10 per kg,” Das said. The Indian Meteorological Department in Calcutta said, Jalpaiguri district got 173.9mm rain from March to May this year, which is 23 per cent less than the normal-rain mark of 226.7mm. The garden owners warned that the situation didn’t augur well for the labourers who number more than 3 lakh in the plains. Tea garden workers in the plains have never been laid off work because of drought-like conditions, though there were similar warnings issued in the past. Prabir Bhattacharjee, the secretary of the Dooars branch of the Indian Tea Association, said: “So far, there has been no reduction in working days or lay-offs in any of the gardens. However, such a possibility looms over the work force this year. We want to make it clear that if there is not enough rain in the next 10 days or fortnight, bushes won’t sprout leaves and we won’t be able to engage all workers.” He added that since the Dooars had hardly received rain in March and April, the production has decreased by 15 per cent. Data available with the Tea Board of India show production in the Dooars was 7.04 million kg in March 2012 and for the same period this year, the figure is 0.57 million kg. The Tea Research Association (TRA) said the tea industry was badly in need of rain. “The increase in the temperature caused by the acute shortage of rain has dried up natural water sources. The result is that there is a spurt in pest and mite attacks,” said S. Varghese, chief advisory officer of the TRA in Nagrakata. Experts said adequate rain would kill the pests and mites and help the bushes develop fresh leaves. Trade unions in the gardens warned that they would protest if the planters announced a lay-off or reduction in working days. “The garden owners are facing problems because of the weather, not workers. We would vehemently oppose if any management declares lay-off or reduces labour days,” said Aloke Chakraborty, the president of the north Bengal regional committee of the Congress-backed Intuc. The CPM’s union arm Citu spoke on similar lines. “We have seen that whenever management faces problems that are not related to workers they do something that will affect the labourers,” said a Citu leader.