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Kalimpong, Oct. 16: The recently-formed NH 31A Bachao Committee has demanded a high-level inquiry into the causes of the landslide at 27 Mile two months ago that led to frequent disruption of traffic on the highway.

In a memorandum mailed to the Union environment minister A. Raja, the committee also demanded that until the inquiry panel submits its report, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) should stop all construction work of its Teesta Low Dam Project, Stage III, which allegedly caused the slide.

“We further demand a review and reassessment of the environmental impact (of the dam),” said committee convener P.T. Bhutia at a news conference held here today.

Quoting a report prepared by the Eastern Himalayan Tourist and Travel Organisations’ Association, committee members alleged that certain relevant portions of the geological and geotechnical investigations undertaken by the Geological Survey of India “were suppressed” in the final environmental impact assessment report on the project at Reang near Rambi. (more…)

via darjeelingtimes.com

Oct 13,2006
Source: Himalayan Darpan

Kalimpong; Mr. Manoj Lepcha, who had been wounded during the Police encounter, is not the member of the UGRF (United Gorkha Revolutionary Front) as claimed by the Police, said Mr. Dahal, Chief of UGRF.

Except two persons, Asish Rai, given membership just day before his arrest and Ram Rai, was holding membership of UGRF just few days back, rest all are innocent civilians, and possession of armes by them as claimed by Police is not true, said Mr. Dahal.

We have preserved our muscle and days will come to demonstrate our capabilities, warned Mr. Dahal.

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Kalimpong, Oct. 13: The permanent restoration work on the damaged 50-m stretch of NH 31A at 27th Mile will be taken up by the end of November and is expected to be completed by April next year.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya at the National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC) office at 27 Mile, around 25 km from here, today. “All parties concerned will again come together in January to review the progress of the work,” Bhattacharya told The Telegraph after the meeting. (more…)

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Kalimpong, Oct. 12: The cooking gas crisis in town is not over yet as the two distributors of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) struggle to clear the accumulated backlog of about 18-20 days.

“It seems that we will not be able to meet the demand for Diwali,” admitted an agent.

The LPG scarcity was fuelled by the frequent disruptions of traffic on NH 31A over the last two months, particularly due to the landslide at 27 Mile. The problem has been compounded by the fact that this is the festive season when the demand for LPG cylinders usually goes up.

The good news is that with the condition of the road at 27 Mile improving in the absence of rain, there should not be any more impediments to the regular supply of gas.

Consumers are also hoping that the oil major will ferry in additional stocks from its Jalpaiguri depot. The IOC is the only oil company doing business in the domestic cooking gas sector here.

However, despite repeated attempts, the IOC area manager for the region could not be reached for his comments on the issue.

Apart form domestic consumers, hotels, restaurants and many residential schools of the town are also feeling the impact of the crisis. “We are being forced to use wood as alternative fuel. We have to prepare meals for about 1,000 people, including over 800 boarders, every day,” said David Foning, the bursar of Dr Graham’s Homes.

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RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, Oct. 11: As Kiran Desai made a splash in international literary circles by winning the Booker Prize yesterday, the ripples travelled to this sleepy hill town.

Kiran’s aunt Indira Bhattacharya, who works here as a child specialist, is overjoyed with her niece’s achievement.

“I am, of course, delighted. I tried to speak to her but she is travelling somewhere between Frankfurt and London. So I couldn’t reach her,” Indira said, grinning from ear to ear.

The frail 72-year-old doctor did, however, manage to connect with her more famous sister Anita, Kiran’s mother. “Oh, she could hardly speak. She is so happy.”

Although Kalimpong is an integral part of the Booker-winning The Inheritance of Loss, Indira said Kiran didn’t quite think the family belonged there. “We all love this place. But she believes we don’t belong here.”

Kiran had come here on several occasions, she said, and even briefly studied at St Joseph’s Convent in the mid-eighties.

On one such trip, the young Kiran had said she was “just one of thousands of authors going around”. Today the proud aunt is happy that she would have to retract her statement.

Indira, who wasn’t willing to speak too much or even pose for a picture — “It is she who is in the picture, not I. I don’t think it would be appropriate” — said Kiran was a warm, loving and very sensitive person.

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Kalimpong: An encounter between district police officials and suspected UGRA members here left one extremist wounded. The incident took place around two in the afternoon in a forest below Kagey village near Pedong, 25 km from here. According to district police chief Rajesh Subarna, the wounded man Manoj Lepcha had been arrested and is under treatment at the subdivisional hospital here. One firearm has been recovered. This is the first armed skirmish with the UGRA.

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Kalimpong, Oct. 8: A high-level meeting to finalise the plan to reconstruct the road at the landslide-hit 27 Mile on NH 31A will be held at the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) complex near the Teesta on Friday.

About 40 metres of the highway, which links Sikkim and Kalimpong to Siliguri, was washed away in early August following a landslide triggered by the NHPC’s construction activities on the Teesta riverbed near Rambi as part of the power major’s low dam project.

The meeting, called by the officiating district magistrate, will be attended by urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya and senior officials of the NHPC and Border Roads Organisation, which maintains the road. This was disclosed by NHPC chief engineer S. Khatua at an interactive session between the corporation’s officials and representatives of various local organisations held at Town Hall here yesterday. (more…)

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Kalimpong, Oct. 4: The Kalimpong Press Club will organise an interactive session with officials of National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC) on the benefits of setting up hydel-power stations in the hills.

The discussion, which will be held at Town Hall here on Saturday, could not have been better scheduled as it comes at a time when renewed fears are being expressed on the feasibility of low dam projects. Recently a landslip, allegedly triggered by the construction of a dam at Reang, 27th Mile on NH 31A, led to disruption of traffic on the road. (more…)

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Kalimpong, Oct. 3: Planting teak and pine trees in the Darjeeling hills on a large scale can potentially ruin the local environment, said Ricardo Carrerk of World Rainforest Movement.

Carrerk is the international coordinator of the movement, which is headquartered in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo and fights against monoculture tree plantation (large scale planting of single species) across the world.

Terming the forest model followed in the hills as “socially and environmentally unsustainable”, Carrerk said: “We are not against any tree species, but all evidence on the monoculture model shows that it is not good for people and bad for the environment.” (more…)

Wishing all visitors a very Happy Dasai and Tihar

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