Closed Tea Garden to Reopen

Yet another closed garden in the hills is set to reopen this month, with Putung tea garden near Mirik being handed over to a private firm over this weekend.

Vah-Takvar, a garden near here, reopened on 2 January, 10 years after remaining closed. Both Putung and Vah-Takvar (which has been rechristened Sri Dwarika tea estate by its new owners) were in the custody of the Tea Trading Corporation of India, following the original owners’ failure to run them.

The TTCI, a floundering Central institution, has also been unable to run them. Putung tea estate has been handed over to United Naturex Dotcom Pvt Ltd – a curiously named firm for the tea industry. Mr JP Gurung, the local consultant for Putung’s new owners, declined to answer questions regarding antecedents of the “Dotcom.” “I am not authorised to answer the media,” he said, amidst speculations in the industry that the new company was a front for Tea Promoters India, which already owns several Darjeeling gardens.

Mr Gurung conceded that the garden would reopen “shortly.” Putung was taken over by the TTCI in 1985, when it had a workforce of 230 and a population of 1050. The last remaining closed TTCI garden in Darjeeling is also set to resume operations this month. Peshok has been handed over to Dootheria and Kalej Valley Tea Co. An official of the company today said: “The details of the workforce has to be sorted out before starting operations later this month.” Meantime, unions of Chong Tong tea estate, virtually “abandoned” by the management, last Friday, today refused to come to a meeting called by the management. The latter has been asking for six days of work with three days of payment.

Mr LM Lama, panchayat pradhan, Chong Tong gram panchayat, said: “The workers are willing to listen to the problems, provided the owner, Mr Ajit Agarwal talked to them.” Mr Lama also warned that the workers would set up a roadblock on NH-55 if the authorities did not intervene.

Source > The Statesman