I-League challenge for Bhaichung boys in Gangtok

Paljor Stadium in Gangtok, where the final leg of the I-League’s second division will be held from March 29 to April 17

Gangtok, March 22: The final leg of the I-League’s second division will be held at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok where all eyes will be on Bhaichung Bhutia’s boys who are leading in the first section of the tournament being held in Siliguri.

Seven clubs will take part in the final leg that begins on March 29 and two top teams will make it to the first division of I-League when the matches conclude on April 17.

The Gangtok matches will be hosted by the Sikkim Football Association. SFA general secretary Menla Ethenpa said today that two matches would be held on most of the days in the final round in Gangtok.

“According to the fixture drawn up by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the first match will kick off at 12.30pm, followed by the second one at 2.30pm. On days of single matches, the kick-off will be at 2.30pm,” he said.

Apart from United Sikkim Football Club co-owned by Bhaichung, Mohammedan Sporting, Vasco Sporting Club, Kalighat Milan Samiti, Royal Wahingdoh, Aizwal Football Club and ONGC Mumbai will play in Gangtok.

ONGC Mumbai had been relegated from the I-League first division last year.

The same teams are presently taking part in the Siliguri leg which will end on March 25.

Ethenpa said points from the Siliguri and Gangtok matches would be tallied to know the two top teams who would be promoted to the I-League. “The SFA has decided to allow all school students in uniform to watch the matches free to popularise football and enable them to see the national teams playing,” he added.

The stadium has a capacity to pack 30,000 spectators and Rs 20 will be charged for a seat in the hillside gallery. The SFA said the ticket price for a berth in the southern and northern galleries would be Rs 30, while spectators will have to shell out Rs 50 each for a seat in the western gallery.

Tickets for VIP gallery will come at Rs 100 each.

With United Sikkim leading the Siliguri leg with 13 points from five matches, expectations are high among football lovers here that the team will qualify for the I-League top division.

“We are looking forward to that day. It will be big achievement for a small state like Sikkim to have a club in the I-League. It will be a proud day and a big turning point for Sikkim football,” said SFA president B.K. Roka.

“In such an eventuality, soccer lovers in Sikkim would get regular opportunities to watch premier clubs like Mohan Bagan, East Bengal and Dempo SC playing at Paljor Stadium,” he added.

The AIFF rules say every team in the I-League division must play on the home turf as well as at the rival’s native place.

United Sikkim’s last match in Siliguri will be against Mohammedan Sporting on March 24.

The management of the Bhaichung club hopes that it can keep up the momentum in the final round also.

“We are doing well in the Siliguri leg having won four matches and drawn one. We are the table toppers now and the players are confident that they can perform well in the final round also,” said United Sikkim senior manager Arjun Rai.

Rai said United Sikkim would attract a lot of ground support on the home turf.

“We are expecting a large number of people to root for the club at Paljor Stadium during our matches and their support will be a boost for our players. The other advantage is that we will be playing on the artificial turf at Paljor Stadium where our players practise daily.”(Telegraph)

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Water every three days - Kalimpong supply hit, sources infected with bacteria

RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, March 22: The residents of town are getting drinking water supply every third day for the past one week with the administration announcing today that water in some sources was unsafe for consumption. The public health engineering (water works) department of the DGHC that distributes drinking water to the town has been forced to regulate the supply as the streams are drying up because of inadequate winter rain. Earlier, the PHE used to distribute water every alternate day. “The three main sources at Neora Khola, Relli and Thukchuk have dried up. Earlier, Deolo reservoir, fed by these streams, always had about 8 lakh gallons of water. But for the past 15-20 days it has come down to 3.5 lakh gallons to 5 lakh gallons,” said Rajen Pradhan, the superintendent of the water works department. The town gets its water supply from Deolo reservoir. Kalimpong requires around 7-8 lakh gallons of water every day. Pradhan added that if there is no rain soon, the problem of water scarcity could get more acute. “In the previous years, the sources used to dry up in April. However, such a scenario has unfolded a month in advance this time. If there is no rain, we could be in for a lot of trouble,” he said. Pradhan added that the residents of the town should use water sparingly. “People can help us tackle the problem by saving water and plugging in the leakage (in the supply lines).” The water scarcity has also hit Darjeeling town. Darjeeling municipality had sought Rs 38 lakh from the state government earlier this month to distribute water in houses. “But the money has not been sanctioned yet. We will face a major problem as the present stock will last for a week to 10 days at the most,” said a source. Darjeeling requires around 16-18 lakh gallons of water everyday. But the municipality can only supply around 7-8 lakh gallons daily. The hill town gets its water from the North Lake, South Lake and Sindhap that are fed by the Khongkhola river near Sonada. The river gets its water from 26 streams, out of which 21 went dry by mid-March. A 1,000 litre of water costs around Rs 350 in Darjeeling. Some Kalimpong residents draw water from the natural springs, while most buy water from the markets. A 1,000 litre of water in Kalimpong costs anything between Rs 200 and Rs 300 depending on the distance of a house from the source like small streams or jhoras. “Things are bad, but manageable for now. But if the situation worsens, it will cause a dent in our pockets,” said Ratan Lama, a resident of 10 Mile near here. The Kalimpong municipality said today water drawn from some of the sources in town was unsafe for drinking. “The municipality along with the health department had sent water from 10 different sources in and round town for tests. The tests have confirmed the presence of coliform (bacteria) in the water. The water from these sources is unsafe for drinking but it can be used for washing and other purposes,” said Dr. S. D. Zimba, the health officer of the civic body. The contaminated sources are three jhoras in the 12Mile area, Ghatay khola in Sindebung, Raushay Bazar jhora and Gangi jhora at Dungra Busty. “The contaminated water can cause bacterial infections like typhoid, paratyphoid, cholera, bacillary dysentery and viral infection like viral hepatitis A and E, rotavirus diarrhoea, travellers’ diarrhoea and amoebic dysentery,” Zimba said. The municipality went public with the findings of the tests on World Water Day that is observed world wide on March 22 to focus on the importance of fresh water and sustainable management of its sources.(Telegraph)

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Dry spell hits tea first flush

VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, March 22: The Christmas Rain that Darjeeling missed this winter is threatening to pour cold water on the finest flush of tea this season. Planters fear that the toll of the parched winter would soon tell on the crop, pushing down production of the first flush — the most expensive category — by nearly 50 per cent below normal. If the dry weather continues, a further dip in April is not ruled out. A double-edge cloud curse is also hanging over the hills — the moisture-laden curtains are blocking much-needed sunshine and floating away before rain could fall. The expected yield in the two-month-long first flush is around 1.5-2 million kg or 20 per cent of the total produce in a normal year, said Sandeep Mukherjee, the principal adviser to the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA). Planters said that in 2009-10, when the production of Darjeeling tea had come down to an all-time low of 7.96 million kg, the hills had received 3.8mm of rain in December. This time, there was no rain in December, essential for the first flush and fondly called the Christmas Rain. In the mid-90s, Darjeeling used to produce nearly 13 million kg of tea a year. The plucking of the first flush starts from February-end and continues till April-end. “The production till now is nearly 50 per cent lower than the average at this time of the year because of the lack of rain. There is little hope of improvement as the plucking of the first flush will come to an end in another month,” Mukherjee said. He said there might be a marginal improvement or a further dip in production depending on the weather over the next one month. Rainfall did improve in January but February drew a blank. This month, the hills received 3.1mm in three days till yesterday, the DTA said. “Apart from rain, the leaves need sunshine to grow faster. This year, the hills have experienced several cloudy days. But unfortunately, the clouds are passing away and we are not getting the much-needed showers,” Mukherjee said. The industry is also worried that rain in the hills has been erratic and not evenly spread. “The hills are receiving almost 20 per cent less rainfall during winter compared with showers 20 years ago,” Mukherjee added. Tea officials said the industry largely survived on first flush sales. “Almost 80 per cent of the first flush is exported. It gets the highest prices,” a planter said. The prices vary from estate to estate. According to a Darjeeling-based planter and manager of one of the largest gardens in the hills, the first flush prices usually rule between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 a kg.(Telegraph)

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मिरिक झीलको जीर्णोद्धार र सुन्दरीकरणको पहल शुरु

22मार्च (कालेबुङ):- जीटीएको चुनाउ र सिमांकनबारे छलफल गर्न राज्य सरकारले आगामी 24 मार्चमा डाकेको बैठकमा पनि मोर्चाले तराई डूवर्सको अन्तर्भुक्तिलाई नै मूल मुद्दा बनाउने अडान लिएको छ। मिरिकको भ्रमणमा रहेका गोजमुमो अध्यक्ष बिमल गुरुङले यहाँका पत्रकारहरुलाई यस आशयको जानकारी दिएका छन। राज्यकी मुख्यमंत्री ममता बेनर्जी आफैले निमञ्त्रणा दिएको बैठकलाई केन्द्र गरी आममानिसले मोर्चाको अडानबारे उत्सुकता जाहेर गरी रहेको अवस्थामा मोर्चा प्रमुखको यस आशयको बयान आएको छ। मिरिकका आफ्ना कार्यकर्ता र समर्थकहरुलाई नयाँ उर्जा प्रदान गर्न बुधबार मिरिक पुगेका मोर्चा प्रमुख बिमल गुरुङले क्षेत्रको पर्यटन विकासको निम्ति आफ्नो दल गम्भीर रहेको संकेत दिएका छन। उनले आजदेखि मिरिक झीलको जीर्णोद्धार र सुन्दरीकरणको निम्ति पहल शुरु गरेका छन। मिरिक झीलको सर सफाई र सुन्दरीकरण गरी पर्यटन व्यवसायलाई प्रोत्साहन दिन हरसम्भव प्रयास गरिने गुरुङको बिचार छ। उनले यसको निम्ति मिरिक नगरपालिका बोर्ड अनि पार्टीको स्थानीय नेतृवर्गलाई यस सम्बन्धमा निर्देश पनि दिएका छन। मिरिक झीलको जीर्णोद्धार र सुन्दरीकरणको निम्ति आजदेखि अभियान शुरु गरिएको छ।यसको निम्ति सीएडीसी नामक एजेंसीले काम हातमा लिएको छ।यस योजनाको निम्ति 3 करोड चार लाखको रुपियाँ अनुमोदन गरिएको छ। यस अवसरमा आज झील परिसरमा एउटा कार्यक्रमको आयोजना पनि गरिएको थियो। यस कार्यक्रममा मोर्चा प्रमुख गुरुङलगायत खरसाङका विधायक डा रोहित शर्मा अनि दलका केन्द्रीय र स्थानीय नेतृत्वहरु उपस्थित थिए। यसै दिन, पार्टीको मिरिक शाखाले आयोजना गरेको सुनाखरी फूलको प्रदर्शनीको उदघाटन पनि गरे। क्षेत्रका बिभिन्न बागवानी संगठनहरुको सहयोगमा आयोजना गरिएको फूल प्रदर्शनी आगामी 27 मार्चसम्म चल्नेछ।

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