Major landslide cuts off road to some Darjeeling Tea gardens

Darjeeling: Just when the life of people in the Hills was are limping back to normalcy after the 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook the entire eastern India, a massive landslide devoured a 30-metre stretch of Lebong Cart Road late Sunday night, cutting off connectivity with the northern parts of Darjeeling. However, no casualties have been reported in the incident.

Lebong Cart Road connects the town with places like Singamari and some Darjeeling Tea gardens such as Phoobsering, Barnesbeck, Singla, Ging and also the army cantonment at Lebong. All vehicular movement has now been diverted from the Birch Hill Road.

"Incessant rain in the past 24 hours has damaged a vast stretch of Lebong Cart Road. We have diverted all traffic flow to the north side of the town from the upper stretches. It will take about a month to repair the road," said Darjeeling DM Soumitra Mohan.

No property has been damagedin the incident that occurred. However, according to civil defense officials, more rain could prove to be dangerous. "The September 18 earthquake in Sikkim has also affected the Hills. Cracks have appeared on several roads that need to be plastered to avoid water seepage," warned Gopal Rai, a senior government official. Incidentally, the road was already damaged and repair work had started prior to the earthquake and rainfall.

Several schools in the northern half of the town asked students to return home because of persistent rainfall. One school declared Puja holiday before schedule.

"We did not want to take any chance. So we declared the Puja holiday from today itself. The situation is quite precarious in the Hills with the recent earthquake and now this incessant rainfall," said Father Kinley, rector of St Joseph's School at Singamari.

Vacation at the school was supposed to start from Friday.

With the road cut off, the residents of Singamari may face difficulties in getting their drinking water, which is supplied by tankers.

"The Birch Hill Road is too narrow and a one-way lane. Traffic system will be in disarray from now with heavy vehicles, including that of the army and water supply,

plying on this road. Besides, it will be difficult to travel more than 2 km on foot everyday to reach town for work," said Mohan Tamang, a resident of Singamari.

Source: Times of India

Garden Work for tea tourists at Happy Valley

Darjeeling, March 19: Globetrotting, high-end tourists will be soon seen helping workers manufacture Darjeeling tea at Happy Valley Tea Garden under instructions from young guides speaking English, German and French.

The garden, set up in 1854, is rolling out an unconventional tea tourism package in which guests will prune and pluck tea, before being treated to a sumptuous lunch at the new lounge coming up beside the garden factory.

The lunch, too, will be special, because each item will have tealeaves in one form or the other.

The $1m project is expected to be launched in three months, said Sanjay Bansal, the proprietor of Rithik Investment Pvt. Ltd, which bought the garden last year. “I personally believe that just opening two rooms for people at the factory bungalow only amounts to paying-guest tourism and not tea tourism,” he said.

Bansal added that the workers’ children (not minors) would be taught English, German and French before they are recruited as guides. “A museum is also being built in the century-old factory, which we are renovating.”

Happy Valley is one of the oldest and most famous gardens in Darjeeling and the museum houses a lot of gems from the past.

“We will, for example, demonstrate the use of the piston prime mover machine, which generates electricity and was built in 1850,” said the garden owner.

The top floor of the factory will have a reception area and changing rooms for tourists to get into workers’ uniform. The building is designed in a way that will allow them to walk around the factory and see the manufacturing process.

While high-end tourists can book a conducted tour for the entire day, people on a tighter budget can visit the garden on two-hour shifts between 8am and 5pm. The price of neither package has been decided.

There will no accommodation facility at the garden.

Longview Tea Garden gutted in fire

Darjeeling: The production unit of one of the biggest tea gardens - Longview Tea Garden - in Darjeeling hills was gutted in fire.

The fire broke out at 3 am at the production unit in West Bengal's Kurseong sub-division.

Four fire brigades from Kurseong and Siliguri were pressed into service, but by the time they reached the spot most of the property had been destroyed.

The garden workers had also tried to control the fire, but due to the wooden architecture of the unit, fire spread rapidly.

"There were wooden floors so it easily caught fire," said Gurmit Mallik, Manager of Longview Tea Garden, Silliguri.

Fire officials said short circuit could be the cause of fire.

"There is maintenance work going on in the tea industry and maybe due to some spark that got in touch with the tea dust led to the explosion," said Bishnu Prasad Dhar, a fire brigade official.

No casualties have been reported as the unit was temporarily closed, but the management estimated that the loss to property could be over 40 million rupees.

The tea garden used to produce 700,000 kilograms of tea annually, and 1206 casual and permanent employees work in the tea garden.

Workers will still work at Orange Valley Tea Estate

Darjeeling: The management of the Orange Valley tea garden today ordered suspension of work in the estate on disciplinary grounds.

Rajesh Kaushal, the manager, along with his colleagues, left the garden early this morning, following which the suspension notice was issued to the workers.

Santa Rai, on behalf of the labourers, said though they had seen the notice, they went ahead with their duties. “Of the 567 labourers, 464 worked today. Tomorrow is a holiday. We will continue to come to the estate from Wednesday as usual and the management should pay,” Rai said.

“The management decided to leave because it is not finding the atmosphere conducive for the running of the estate, as a section of workers has been trying to disrupt the proceedings in the garden,” said Sandeep Mukherjee, the secretary of the Darjeeling Tea Association.

Trouble started in the estate, situated around 15 km from here, last Wednesday when the body of Sukbir Rai (57), a dafadar (supervisor) there, was found 300 feet down a jhora. “Some labourers started blaming the management for the death. The post-mortem report is yet to come, but before that, a charge has been brought against two assistant managers,” said Mukherjee. Following a complaint lodged by Amit Rai, a resident of the garden, police have started a case under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC against assistant managers Nipen Sharma and Jhawar Singh Chowdhury, for “compelling (someone) to commit suicide”, a source said.

Citing the other reasons behind abandoning the garden, the management said K.K. Chowdhury, the factory in-charge, was manhandled on Thursday for “no apparent reason”. “After Sukbir’s body was recovered, Kaushal, who was away, returned to the garden on Saturday, following which, the workers gheraoed him,” said Mukherjee.

The labourers, however, said they did not mean any harm to the manager. “We were surprised that Kaushal has left the garden. We do not have anything against him,” said Solomon Rai, a worker. “All we want is that those responsible for Sukbir’s death should be punished.”

GNLF leader A.R. Dewan, also the former councillor of the area, declined to comment. “I will first have to find out what has happened,” he said.

Source: The Telegraph

Work set to resume at Orange Valley Tea Garden

Darjeeling: Work is set to resume at the Orange Valley tea garden after the labourers finally allowed police to shift the body of Sukbir Rai, a worker who committed suicide on Wednesday.

“The body was recovered around 12.30 am last night,” said A.R. Dewan, the secretary of the GNLF’s Darjeeling branch committee.

Following a post-mortem, the garden authorities performed the last rites. The labourers then held a condolence meeting today, after which no work was conducted.

According to the labourers, Rai, who was a dafadar or a supervisor at the garden, had committed suicide after being “insulted” by Nipen Sharma, the assistant manager. He killed himself by jumping 300 ft into a jhora near the estate, 15 km from here. After recovering the body, the workers had decided not to give it up till the management came down to the spot and “see (for themselves) the fate of their oppression”.

Now that the labourers have reportedly agreed to an amicable solution, the managers are expected to return to the estate soon. “I have asked my people to resume work from tomorrow,” said manager Rajesh Kaushal.

Following a complaint lodged by Kaushal, the police have started a case against a few unidentified persons under Sections 143 of the IPC (unlawful assembling), 223 (assault) and 342 (wrongful confinement), said L.B. Kumai, the deputy superintendent of police (town). “We have also started two cases under Sections 34 and 306 of the IPC against assistant managers Nipen Sharma and Jhawar Singh Chowdhury,” Kumai said. “Amit Rai, a resident of the estate, alleged that Rai had committed suicide after humiliation by them.”

Source: The Telegraph

Suicide halts work at Orange Valley, Darjeeling

Orange Valley Tea Estate, Darjeeling: Work came to a standstill here this morning over allegations that a worker had committed suicide after being “tormented” by the management.

Angry workers of Orange Valley Tea Estate refused to allow police to lift the body of Sukbir Rai (57), who jumped 300 ft into a jhora, near the garden (located 15 km from Darjeeling), yesterday. They have vowed not to give up the body till members of the garden management came down to the spot and “see (for themselves) the fate of their oppression”. A large police contingent has been posted at the garden.

Workers said Rai, a dafadar (supervisor) in the garden, was publicly humiliated on April 14. “Nipen Sharma, the assistant manager of the garden, insulted him on that day for not doing his work well. Soon after, he was asked to work as a chowkidar and this was too much for him to bear,” said Solomon Subba, a worker.

It is learnt that Rai was mentally disturbed by the incident and took sick leave on April 21. He reportedly went to his relative’s place at Vah-Tukvar (about 20 km from Darjeeling). It was on his way back, yesterday morning, that Rai went missing. His body was traced around 10 am today.

Following this, angry workers laid siege to the garden factory and allegedly manhandled the in-charge R.R. Chowdhury. The manager of the garden Rajesh Kaushal, who was in Darjeeling, however, refused to go down to the site leading to the impasse.

Kaushal has denied all allegations levelled against the management. “The deceased was made a chowkidar at the request of his family members,” said Kaushal. He hinted that the pressure on Rai could have been for other reasons. “He along with a colleague had hauled up six workers for dereliction of duty. They were later suspended,” he added.

The workers, however, claimed only one of them had been suspended on the basis of Rai’s complaint.

Source: The Telegraph