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Aug. 30: The weather will decide how soon NH 31A can be opened to traffic, say officials of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

In the past five days, two landslides have hit the highway at Hatisuray, 26km from Siliguri, snapping the main road link to Kalimpong and Sikkim. The price of perishable items has already skyrocketed in both the places.

“We are trying hard to reopen the road, but heavy rainfall at Hatisuray and Sevoke yesterday put our workers at risk,” said a BRO official. He added that some loose boulders are still balanced precariously above the landslide zone and the rain and the subsequent mud-slips are causing some of them to crash down on the road.

The BRO is trying to clear the road by blasting some of the bigger boulders and removing the others with the help of bulldozers.

The Met office in Jalpaiguri forecasts heavy rain over the next 24 hours.

A number of heavy vehicles carrying perishable goods bound for Kalimpong and Sikkim are stranded on NH 31A. One of the two alternative routes passing through Malbazar, Lava, Algarah and Reshi closed down for two hours this morning after a portion of the road caved in between Ambiok and Phapadkheti following torrential rain overnight.

“We are now letting light vehicles pass in a single file. However, vehicles with over three tonnes of payload will have problem negotiating the affected stretch,” said a BRO official.

The third route through Ghum, Jorebunglow and Mongpu doubles the distance between Siliguri and Kalimpong.

With the supply lines cut, residents of Kalimpong and Sikkim are feeling the pinch. The price of tomato has gone up to anything between Rs 35-40 per kg, while onion and potato are selling for Rs 25-30 and Rs 20 respectively.

In Kalimpong, the hike in prices prompted subdivisional officer Shakeel Ahmed to hold a meeting with traders, civic officials, police and representatives of the food and supply department today. Ahmed urged the local traders’ association to ensure that prices do not shoot up.

All three petrol pumps in Kalimpong have run out of stocks, while the situation is getting desperate in Sikkim.

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Kalimpong, Aug. 29: Like in Mirik on Sunday, the GNLF has called a 12-hour bandh in Pedong, 25km from here, on Friday to derail the ABGL meeting in the area.

Local GNLF leader Roshan Lama said the bandh was being called for two reasons: first, to foil the meeting, and second, to protest against the alleged disparaging remark made by ABGL president Madan Tamang about GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh in Mirik.

Undeterred by the GNLF posturing, the ABGL said it would go ahead with the meeting, which is likely to be addressed among others by Tamang.

The meeting is part of the ABGL’s on-going campaign to expose the alleged lies being perpetuated by the GNLF about the granting of Sixth Schedule status to the hills.

“It is for the administration to maintain law and order. We have decided to go ahead with the meeting,” said Tribhuwan Rai, the secretary of the ABGL’s Kalimpong unit.

The ABGL meeting is scheduled to be held at the haat ghar in Pedong. PDF leader Norden Lama said he would attend the meeting to uphold democracy.

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Siliguri, Aug. 29: The restoration of NH 31A received a setback after a fresh landslide struck Hatisuray, 26km from here, last night.

The road — the main link that connects the rest of Bengal to Kalimpong and Sikkim — has been closed since Saturday after the adjacent hillside with mud, rocks and uprooted trees came tumbling down at the same spot.

Engineers of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), who were present at the site, said even light vehicles will not be able to pass in a single file, though till yesterday it was expected that the highway would open today.

This morning, the Darjeeling district administration made it clear that the reopening of the highway would not be possible in the next 48 hours.

“We can only hope for the best,” said Rajesh Pandey, the district magistrate of Darjeeling. “We are in constant touch with the BRO and they have said the work of removing debris has been hampered because of fresh rain at Sevoke,” he added.

The landslide has been triggered by heavy rain. A minor accident had also taken place at the site of landslide when a small truck had tried to cross the 500-metre stretch.

Prankrishna Das, the officer-in-charge of the Sevoke police outpost, said last evening that the driver of the vehicle had tried to cross the spot on his own just after it started raining. Earlier in the day, the police had tried to help some lighter vehicles pass the area, but stopped after some rocks came tumbling down.

“The wheels of the truck stuck to the mud while one side tilted towards the gorge. The driver jumped off and later the vehicle was pulled back on the road with the help of a crane,” said Das.

Some rocks and mud had also come down on NH 55 this morning around 7.30am. The landslide at 14th Mile near Paglajhora followed a heavy shower.

Though the road is open to traffic, the toy train ran up to Tindharia instead of Kurseong. Normal services will resume tomorrow.

RAJEEV RAVIDAS
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Kalimpong, Aug. 28: The protest against hydel power projects in the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu in North Sikkim made itself heard in New Delhi today.

A joint delegation of the Rong Ong Prongzom (Lepcha Youth Organisation), Darjeeling, and Concerned Lepchas of Sikkim met Mani Shankar Aiyar, the minister in-charge of the department of north-eastern region (DoNER) in Delhi today and urged him to help save Dzongu, which is sacred to the Lepchas.

The 11-member team also submitted a memorandum to the DoNER minister. Lepchas of Darjeeling and Sikkim have been on a relay hunger strike here and in Gangtok demanding the immediate scrapping of the hydel power projects at Dzongu.

President of the Prongzom and the leader of the delegation, Dorji Lepcha, told The Telegraph over phone from Delhi that Aiyar heard them out and advised them to meet minister for environment and forests.

“He also told us that he was not aware of the protest spreading to the neighbouring Darjeeling hills as well,” said Lepcha.

The delegation will be camping in Delhi for some more days in an effort to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. They are scheduled to meet tribal affairs minister P.R. Kyndiah tomorrow.
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Kalimpong, Aug. 27: Come new tourist season, and visitors staying at numerous forest lodges in the subdivision can expect better service — thanks to the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation.

The WBFDC, which runs boarding facilities in places like Lava, Loleygaon and Jaldhaka, conducted a 10-day orientation workshop for 30 of its staff members with the help of the Good Shepherd Institute of Hospitality Management here.

The theme of the workshop that began on August 17 and concluded on Saturday was “foundation of quality hospitality”. The trainees were given a crash course on various aspects of hospitality management — from presentation of food to behaviour management.

“We felt there was a need to give our staff members a basic training on hospitality management, given that all of them are foresters more adept at protecting the wild rather than attending to guests,” said T.S. Murli, the divisional manager of the WBFDC.

The trainees, too, said the programme was of immense help to them. “We had very little idea on how to work in the hospitality sector. The workshop has given us insight into the working of the industry,” said S. Pradhan, a forest employee from Lava.

According to Alvin Lama, the director of Good Shepherd Institute, the workshop was the second such programme organised by them for the foresters. In 2005, the institute had conducted a similar programme for another batch of forest employees of north Bengal.

“This is part of our effort to reach out to various segments of the tourism industry. We don’t want to restrict ourselves to our own students alone. As the only professional institute of its kind in the hills, we are willing to share our expertise with anyone associated with the tourism industry,” he added.

The institute handed out certificates of participation to all the trainees.

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RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Rao. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Kalimpong, Aug. 26: Fifty-six-year-old Praful Rao has flown fighter planes in another lifetime, but now he is flying high as a photographer.

Penguin India recently bought three of Rao’s photographs for use on the jackets of the forthcoming titles of author Ruskin Bond. Rao was making waves even before that. All the eight photographs he had put up at a media show in Darjeeling in early June were bought before the organisers could say Praful.

A resident of Tirpai here and an alumni of Dr Graham’s Homes and St Joseph’s College, North Point, Rao was a keen photographer right from his teens. However, it is only after his voluntary retirement from the air force as a wing commander in 1997 that he was really able to indulge in his passion. And the advent of digital camera helped, says Rao.

The information revolution gave Rao the opportunity to use the Internet as a platform to showcase his talent. His wonderfully designed website, www.prafulrao.com — courtesy his German friend, Frank Mueller — features most of his works. Surfing through the images, it is clear that Rao has managed to capture the different facets of the hills, from its people to the landscape, not as a charmed intruder, but with a sensibility of a person who belongs to the place.

One of Rao’s photographs that has been selected by Penguin India

“There is an intuitive understanding of the hills in every photo,” reads a message in the guestbook on his website.

Rao’s big dream now is to hold a solo exhibition of his works in a major gallery in a metropolis. “Some months ago, I was at the Photographic Institute in Delhi which allows photographers to use its gallery to host exhibitions. However, the cost of putting up a 40-photograph show there is beyond my means. Nevertheless, I remain an optimist,” says Rao.

As a teenager in the Sixties, Rao began taking photographs with a box camera. Today he uses a Canon 400D, a digital single-lens reflex camera.

“In the analogue age, our works were dependent on studio hands. Today, my computer is my studio, and it is a big help,” he says.

Rao makes it a point to acknowledge wife Asha for being a tremendous help, even allowing him to shoot in the jungles of the hills he so dearly loves despite being concerned about his safety. “I can’t help being amazed by this woman. She has been a pillar of strength throughout,” he concluded.

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Sevoke, Aug. 26: A massive landslide struck near Sevoke on NH 31A last night, blocking the highway. Triggered by a spate of heavy rain, the mountainside with rocks, mud and uprooted trees came tumbling down at 8.30pm.

Officials of the Sevoke police station said it has been the most devastative slide in recent times. Even after 10 blasts (for breaking boulders) and round-the-clock removal of debris by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and Hindustan Construction Company, things have not improved much.

The accumulated debris at Hatisuray—between Coronation Bridge and Kalijhora, 26km from Siliguri — has cut off the main road link to Kalimpong and Gangtok.

While around 1,000 passengers have been stranded on either side of the site, a few hundreds walked the 500m affected stretch to board vehicles from the other side.

More than 100 trucks carrying foodgrain, vegetables and building material to Sikkim were lined up on the highway. The drivers said the delay in supply might affect the markets of the hill state.

“At least another 48 hours or so will be required to clear the debris and to make the road free for traffic movement,” said an official of BRO that maintains NH 31A.

A truck driver, who witnessed the incident, said: “It was around 8.30pm. I was near Hatisuray when suddenly I heard a deafening sound and pushed the brakes hard.” Som Kumar Chhetri was then on his way to Gangtok, carrying cement on his truck. “Within minutes, rocks, boulders and mud came down onto the road. A huge chunk of debris that also had uprooted trees and swept away the parapets along the road. Had I not pressed the brakes on time, I wonder what would have happened.”

Among those who crossed the landslide stretch on foot with their luggage are Christine How and her daughter Janie from Gangtok. But the duo were at a loss since there were no vehicles on the Siliguri side. “We don’t know whether we can reach Bagdogra by 3pm for our flight to Delhi,” Christine said. Though it takes merely an hour to reach the airport, the women had to walk another 2km to the Coronation Bridge before they would get a taxi and it was past 1pm.

Prankrishna Das, the officer-in-charge of the Sevoke police outpost, who had informed the BRO and Hindustan Construction Company, said: “I have not seen such a massive slide in recent times. At least 10 blasts have been carried out but even then, the situation remains more or less the same.”

At present, buses and other vehicles are plying the Siliguri-Damdim-Gorubathan-Lava-Algarah-Kalimpong and Siliguri-Ghoom-Mungpoo-Kalimpong routes. “It will take four to six hours to reach Kalimpong and a couple of hours more to reach Gangtok through the alternative routes,” said Darjeeling police chief Rajesh Subarno.

Generally it takes two hours to get to Kalimpong by NH 31A and another two-and-a-half hours more to reach Gangtok.

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Kalimpong, Aug. 22: The Hotel and Restaurant Owners’ Association of Kalimpong (Horak) will conduct an orientation programme for taxi drivers here tomorrow to make them more tourist-friendly.

Thirty-two members of 16 different taxi drivers’ associations from the subdivision will attend the programme, being conducted for the first time.

The Horak initiative is aimed at making the drivers realise that they are vital cogs in the wheels of tourism.

“Since the drivers generally are the first contact persons for tourists and spend most of the time with the visitors, we feel they are ideally placed to play the role of ambassadors for tourism,” said Sanjogita Subba, the president of the Horak.

The programme couldn’t have been timed better, given the approaching autumn when tourists flock to the hills in large numbers. “We had been planning to organise this programme for quite some time now, and are happy that it is finally about to materialise,” said Subba.

Bharat Mani Pradhan and Shamsher Ali, will be the resource persons at the programme.

While Ali will tell the drivers the places of interest around the town which generally do not figure on the tourists’ must-see list, Pradhan will lay stress on social etiquettes and driving discipline.

The drivers’ bodies are optimistic about the outcome of the meet. “We discuss these issues among ourselves, but at times it helps to interact with others and know their views as well,” said Tshering Dorjee, the president of Kalimpong Mainline Taxi Drivers’ Welfare Association.

Statesman News Service
GANGTOK Aug 21: Members of the Affected Ctizens of Teesta “temporarily” withdrew their indefinite hunger-strike on the 62nd day of the agitation today following chief minister Mr Pawan Chamling’s “personal appeal.” The ACT members had launched the hunger-strike to protest against the upcoming hydroeletric projects at Dzongu in North Sikkim.
Two ACT members ~ Mr Dawa Lepcha and Mr Tenzing Gyatso Lepcha ~ took juice from their president Mr Athup Lepcha at the STNM hospital here to end the fast. Ms Chungthik Lepcha, SDM and Mr Dhiren Lama, SDPO, were also present at the STNM hospital when the ACT activists withdrew their fast.
“We have called off the hunger-strike following Mr Chamling’s personal appeal. The CM has assured us of fresh negotiation,” Mr Sherap Lepcha, an ACT activist, said. The ACT, however, would continue relay hunger-strike, he added.
The Congress leaders, meanwhile, have refused to comment on the development. “We had only supported the cause for which the hunger-strike was launched. We did not force the ACT activists to continue their agitation. If they have withdrawn their fast, it is their business, not ours,” Mr Kunga Lima Lepcha, a Congress spokesperson, said.

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Kalimpong, Aug. 17: Traffic through NH31A, that connects Sikkim and Kalimpong with the rest of the country, was disrupted early in the morning today following a fresh landslip at Chitrey, about 14km from here.

Continuous overnight rain caused the landslide at the same spot, which had breached about 20 days ago. The site is a short distance from where the state highway to Kalimpong branches off from the national highway.

“Following a fresh breach, traffic had to be closed for about four hours between 5am to 8.45am. We, subsequently, allowed light vehicles to pass,” said an official of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which maintains NH31A. However, for about one-and-half hours in the afternoon, traffic was stopped to enable workers cut the opposite side of the hill to increase the road width. Some of the commuters went over to the other side on foot and availed of vehicles from there.

Till evening, however, the road had not been opened to heavy vehicles that had by then formed a long queue on either side of the road.

“I have been stranded since 10am, and by the looks of it, we may have to spend the entire night here,” said Rajen Rai, one of the truck drivers waiting in the queue.

After the first landslip, the BRO had started work on laying wire-crates filled with boulders at the landslip site to act as a retention wall. A retention wall is built on the side of the road to stop the soil from slipping away. However, all that was washed way in last night’s rain.

“We will begin constructing the retention wall again in a couple of days time. However, we have no intention of cutting the hillside any more,” said the official.