www.kalimpong.info

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, Oct. 29: The Kalimpong Municipality has identified a plot of 10 acres at Lower Bhalukhop, about 5km from the town, to set up a permanent dumping ground.

The new site is not far from Lower Newargoan, which had been identified by the previous GNLF board headed by C.K. Kumai. However, unlike the old site, the new one, which is close to Melli, is easily accessible, although the road leading there needs to be made fit for travel.

Municipality chairman Norden Lama said negotiations were being held with the owners of the land and things would be finalised after Tihar festivity was over.

“Once we get the possession of the land, it will take only two months to get the site ready for the dumping,” said Lama.

Besides the work on the approach road, the site itself will have to be developed as a proper dumping ground.

The civic authorities have been hunting for a site ever since the people of Bhalukhop protested against their place being used for the dumping of garbage nearly five months ago.

Dear Readers,

Wishing everyone a very Happy Tihar.

Best Wishes,

-Admin

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, Oct. 27: The central committee of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has suggested the setting up of a panel to prepare a code of conduct to ensure discipline in the party and streamline its functioning.

The recommendation that came at the end of a meeting of the 43-member committee at Deolo hills last night will be put up before the party president, Bimal Gurung who could not attend the session. Sources in the central committee said the code of conduct was necessary in order to improve the functioning of the party at various levels. (more…)

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, Oct. 22: The Kalimpong Municipality will construct four additional storage tanks in town to facilitate better distribution of water to residents.

The civic body will make use of the Rs 60 lakh it had received from the Bengal municipal affairs department about two years ago. “The previous board had received the money, but had diverted some of it to other purposes. The funds were replenished only a few days before C.K. Kumai resigned as the civic chief,” said Norden Lama, the municipality chairman.

The new tanks will be set up at CarMichael Ground, Mission Compound, Haat Ghar and Lalgully. “We have issued tenders and once the formalities are completed, we will release work orders,” Lama said.

The capacity for the Haat Ghar tank will be 10,000 gallons water and the ones at Mission Compound and Lalgully will be 15,000 gallons each. The CarMichael Ground tank will store 1 lakh gallons, sources said.

The daily requirement of Kalimpong town is nine lakh gallons, while the municipality gets five lakh gallons a day. The shortfall has led the civic authorities to supply water to the residents on alternate day for an hour or so.

Lama, however, said the municipality can do very little to meet the shortfall as the distribution of water is the responsibility of the DGHC’s public health engineering (water works) department. “The authorities of Neora Khola Drinking Water Scheme (which brings water from the source to two reservoirs) and the department (which supplies water from the reservoirs to the storage tanks) must increase the volume of water to make optimal use of the tanks.”

The Telegraph
RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, Oct. 21: A Rs 5-crore scheme has been launched by DGHC to set up infrastructure in little known tourist spots near Kalimpong to woo more visitors.

The project for the integrated development of the tourism sites, funded by the central government, had been approved about two years back, but its implementation was delayed by the Subash Ghisingh-headed DGHC dispensation.

Works under the scheme, launched six months ago, are moving at a rapid pace.

The existing facilities in the riverside village of Relli, 8km from here, are being upgraded for Rs 1.27 crore. The additions to the spot are a swimming pool with rooms for changing and an amusement park. Relli already has lodging facilities at Gorkha Hut and a coffee house.

DGHC tourism secretary Sripriya Rangarajan said the existing tourist sites had been selected for the upgrade after carefully studying their potential.

“The Union government had sanctioned the funds to improve the existing facilities as part of the Destination Kalimpong project,” she said over the phone from Darjeeling.

Another major site being developed is the Changey Falls, located about 40km from here, and Rs 3.49 crore has been earmarked for augmenting the infrastructure there.

“We have already released 80 per cent of the funds and works on fencing and illumination are in progress. An angular footpath is also being constructed there,” said the tourism secretary.

At Deolo Hills, about 5km from the town, a musical fountain is being erected for Rs 16 lakh. A popular tourist lodge there is also being given a face-lift with new interiors.

There are plans to carry out river protection work, construct a picnic ghar and a children park in Chitrakut-Tarkhola area near the border with Sikkim.

“The project has not taken off as the forest department is yet to give 2.5 to 3 acres of land,” said Rangarajan.

Once the infrastructure is ready, Chitrakut-Tarkhola and Relli will be promoted as destinations for adventure tourism like paragliding and river-rafting, she said.

Kalimpong: Played at the picturesque Par 66 Army Golf Course at Durpin, the 1st Kalimpong Open Golf Tournament was held on 15th October 2008 on the stroke play format through 18 holes.

It was a keenly contested affair resulting in the Winners Trophy being claimed by Mr. Hiranya Mani Pradhan while the Runner-up was Lt. Col S.S. Rathore. The lowest Gross Scorer for the tournament was Col. Acharya.

Among the other prizes, the longest drive ironically was taken by Mt. T. Jigme, the oldest among the competitors. Yes! Golf is not about power alone but the sheer magic of timing and technique. The closest to pin again proved to be the seniors’ just dessert, as Col R. Allay (Retd) walked away with the trophy, just missing a Hole-in-one.

Maj Gen V. Puri, G.O.C., 27 Mtn Div gave away the prizes to the winners and tokens to the other participants.

The Tournament Organisers are grateful for the support of the sponsors: AXIS Bank – Kalimpong, Capt. P.M. Pradhan from Rockvale Academy, and HEAT Travels – Siliguri, along with friends of the game!!

The Army Golf Course in Durpin, Kalimpong

The winners of the 1st Kalimpong Open

Photo Courtesy: Mr. H. M. Pradhan

Via http://sudarsantamang.blogspot.com/, Courtesy Mr. S. Tamang and Mr. P. Karthak

By Sudarshan Tamang
October 16,2008
(Based on the queries put in by Mr. Sudarsan Tamang on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 from Grenoble, France
And answers submitted by Peter J. Karthak on Thursday, October 09, 2008 from Kupondole, Patan, Nepal)

Photo: The Hillian band founder member, Peter J Karthak with Choden Tshering Bhutia, who gave the name “Hillians” to the band. (Copyright material)
__________________________

For some reasons, our generation seems to have carried an ostensibly positive mantra:
“If we look back, we’ll not be able to move forward.” But I’m afraid if this holds true all the time, because at times, it’s too imperative to keep our human side alive by being a little thankful and grateful to, or at least thoughtful about, the known or unknown individuals who lived in the near or distant past of time that shaped our present world in one way or other.

It’s my honest attempt, therefore, to “catalyze” the commemoration of those wonderful yesteryears of Darjeeling hills and Sikkim, which are on an imminent process of waning into the lofty horizons of oblivion, if left unheeded.

Thousands of words are likely to be affianced and millions of hours would elapse if we are to put the deeds of all the heralded and unheralded faces of Darjeeling into sentences and phrases that define their legacies best. Be it bravery, be it music, or be it literature, Darjeeling has had a glorious past that defies logic based on her tiny dimensions on a map itself.

To begin the rather ambitious “catalysis” process of remembering our past heroes with, here I am with one of the brightest sons of the Hills, Mr. Peter J. Karthak (Lepcha), the 65-years-old proud Darjeelingey and the founder member of The Hillians which had been seminal in spearheading the musical movement in Darjeeling as back as in the 1960s.

I’m really thankful to Mr. Karthak, now the Chief Copy Editor of The Kathmandu Post/City Post in Kathmandu, for being so patient with the manuscripts and showing meticulous display of love and affection for this very place of mist and fog where he, along with his group, The Hillians, had mesmerized music lovers some 40-odd years back with original Nepali songs like “Mayalu! Mayalu!”

He bares his heart out with humility and sincerity – taking on the inquisitiveness of this young and ignorant soul of mine trying to peek into the past for something worth looking back to– and engraves a memoir of himself and of the other colorful Hillians who changed the course of music history. It was indeed a wonderful ride back to the vibrant days of “black and white” Darjeeling and her colorful hillians.

Sudarsan Tamang: Please tell us about your background and family.

Peter J Karthak: I was born in Shillong on December 12, 1943, probably the worst period of World War II at the Burma Front. After my parents were divorced, our single mother took my younger brother Mark and me back to Darjeeling. We spent our infancy at the Poshok/Peshoke Tea Estate with her younger sister Shobhit Karthak Wang (now a Canadian since 1964) and started our school. Eventually, we moved to the family farm in Upper Nor Busti, above Pool Bazaar and Bijan Bari. Having finished our primary education at the village’s Scottish Mission School (it was right above our house and started by my maternal grandfather as its headmaster and with my mother as its headmistress after his retirement) and in the block development area school called Ishwar Chandra Vidhyasagar School at Bijan Bari, our mother brought us to the town of Darjeeling in 1956 for “further” education, and that was the end to our tea garden and rural backgrounds. Little did I know then that I would one day become a city slicker and a Rock n’ Roll idol in Darjeeling, among other things. Good grief! (more…)

The Times of India

19 Oct 2008, 0309 hrs IST,
Deep Gazmer,TNN

DARJEELING: West Bengal police on Saturday registered cases against Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) activists on the basis of complaints by officials against them for defacing government and office signboards on Friday.

“The government’s policy has already been made clear. We will maintain peace in the Hills but action will be taken soon against the perpetrators,” said Darjeeling DM Surendra Gupta. SP Rahul Srivastav confirmed that he had received complaints from the government offices against GJM activists.

“We have initiated cases on the basis of complaints that we received from government offices and started investigations,” said Srivastav.

Officials of Bengal Natural Museum, situated on Bishop Eric Benjamin Road, and National Voluntary Forum, on Mall Road, were among those who lodged complaints after the signboards were defaced. “So far, four to five complaints have been filed. We will take legal action,” said the SP.

In response to GJM leader Bimal Gurung’s call to replace the words “West Bengal” with “Gorkhaland” on government office signboards, the party activists had on Friday painted black the signboards of some government offices in Darjeeling.

In Kurseong, the GJM activists had painted black signboards of West Bengal Electricity Distribution Company Limited, State Bank of India, Central Bank of India and Allahabad Bank. Although GJM leaders claimed that they had sent letters to government offices requesting them to replace “West Bengal” on their signboards with “Gorkhaland”, government officials remained tightlipped on the matter.

GJM leaders said that the drive will be in full swing from Monday. On Sunday, the GJM will burn “western” clothes, such as jeans and T-shirts, at the Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan grounds.

“Since our agitation is based on Gandhian principles, we have decided to do away with western clothes, which are detracting our youth and damaging our rich culture,” said Dinesh Gurng, adviser to the GJM town committee.

Save The Hills (STH) an NGO working towards raising awareness about landslides in the Darjeeling and Sikkim hills took on a different role today. Hearing the plea of a young hardworking but under-privileged student, Subash Chhetri, from Sinji a remote village in Kalimpong subdivision, who is currently doing his B. Tech (agriculture) in Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwa Vidylaya, Cooch Behar, STH raised money from donors and with the help of Digitech, a Siliguri based computer firm which supplied the computer at a subsidized price, gifted the student with a laptop today. The seven donors were individuals, a school and NGOs from Sikkim and Kalimpong.

STH President Wg Cdr Praful Rao (retd) also reminded the people that it was the 40 anniversary of the Oct 1968 disaster in these hills when thousands died in landslides. To commemorate this STH has organized a national level workshop on Landslide Hazards in Darjeeling on 21 Nov 2008. Prof Leszek Starkel a world renowned geographer who had been studying landslides in this area for the past 40 years will be the Chief Guest as well as main speaker. Other resource persons will be drawn from NBU, GREF and STH. Sikkim representatives have also been invited to attend. Officials from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and State Disaster Management Authority are also expected to attend.

_________________________________________

Professor LESZEK STARKEL’s bio-data

Professor Leszek Starkel (b 1931), from the Institute of Geography of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, is a leading international figure in Physical Geography, specializing in geomorphology and hydrology. During his productive 50-year career with the Institute, Professor Starkel has made significant contributions to the field of palaeohydrology and is known for his studies that link an understanding of contemporary processes with longer term landscape evolution.

Starkel’s research has focused on the geomorphological mapping of Poland and the evolution of Holocene palaeohydrology of the Polish Carpathians, Poland and the whole of Europe. This included his pioneering studies from the Szymbark Research Station in the sixties, for which his Holocene evolution of the Polish landscape is particularly well known. Furthermore, Starkel has specialized in the study of extreme events in the evolution of the landscape in both temperate and monsoonal climates.

Professor Starkel has been active on the international stage by participating in over 100 congresses and workshops in 37 countries, among them seven IGU congresses and all five congresses of the International Association of Geomorphologists. In addition to his European work, his field studies have been in Asia, India, Mongolia and China, and his work has been recognized by leading geographical societies in Hungary, Slovakia and Sweden and he is an Honorary Member of the International Union for Quaternary Research. Throughout his career he has a longstanding record of productive collaboration with many UK geomorphologists. Also Professor Starkel is noted for his close links with geographers in India through his work on floods and landslides in the Darjeeling Himalaya.

His achievements have been acknowledged by medals on several occasions, among others, he is the holder of the Gold Founders Medal of Royal Geographical Society.

___________________________________________

About Subhash Chettri (21y), recipient of STH’s laptop gift:

a) Permanent Address : Sinji bustee, Kalimpong
b) Father’s occupation : Farmer
c) Passed Madhyamik from SUMI – 70%
d) HS from SUMI – 62%
e) Now studying B Tech (Agri) 3rd year in Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Cooch-Behar

Donors for STH gift:

a) Mr Sher Bahadur Subedi (Minister for Forest, Wild Life & Environment Management Department, Mines & Minerals Geology Department, Science & Technology Department – Govt of Sikkim)
b) Mr Udai Gurung (DFO – S Sikkim)
c) Centre for Mountain Dynamics (Kalimpong)
d) Mr Lobsang Bhutia (Kalimpong)
e) Mr Rakesh Sharma (Digitech Computers – Siliguri) helping out for the second time.
f) Mr NR Pradhan – SUMI School, Kalimpong
____________________________________________

From L to R : Mr. Pravakar Dewan – Legal Advisor (STH), Mr. A. K. Pradhan – Treasurer (STH), Mr Anil Kaul – SUMI teacher and representative, Mr. Nayen Pradhan – Centre for Mountain Dynamics representative, Ms. Gayatri Kharel – Structural Engineer and STH Executive member, Wg Cdr Praful Rao (retd) – STH President, Mr Bharat Mani Pradhan – General Secretary (STH), Mr. Hemkar Rana, STH member and spokesperson.

Kuensel Newspaper
www.kuenselonline.com

17 October, 2008 – Kalimpong is a vibrant town in India located 4000 ft above sea level amid beautiful rolling hills of the Darjeeling district. It is also the place most Bhutanese students opt for in their pursuit of higher secondary education.

It’s been that way since a long time ago. Bhutan’s prime minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley is an alumnus of Dr Graham’s Homes, one of the renowned schools in Kalimpong. Other high Bhutanese officials, a number of them, can trace their education roots to Kalimpong.

Some of the place’s other famous education institutes are Scottish Universities Mission Institution (SUMI) established in 1886, St Augustine’s School, St Joseph’s Convent, BMC College, Good Shepherd and Rockvale Academy.

At present, more than 1,000 Bhutanese students study in different schools and colleges in Kalimpong. For the vast outstation population of Bhutanese students studying there, Kalimpong is second home.

A hotel management student, Lachoe, told Kuensel that the place is away from the hustle and bustle of the overpopulated and polluted cities of India. It makes sense to study in Kalimpong as the environment is conducive to learning. (more…)

The Telegraph

Siliguri, Oct. 16: Senior administrative officials have hinted that they may have to shut down the offices in the Darjeeling hills if they are forced to carry “Government of Gorkhaland” on signboards from tomorrow.

District magistrate Surendra Gupta said the administration would not under any circumstances apply force to curb the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s drive to wipe out “West Bengal” from the signboards and write “Gorkhaland” instead.

“We would, under instructions from the state government, try to deter them through persuasion,” said Gupta. “If they insist on going ahead, we would not resort to force to stop them.” (more…)

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, Oct. 15: Two houses were torched, a Maruti van turned on its side and a motorcycle set ablaze here today, allegedly by supporters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha reacting to the circulation of pamphlets critical of the party and its leader Bimal Gurung.

The victims were Pratap Khati, the president of the Tarun Gorkha (a wing of the ABGL), and Basant Singh, a suspended Morcha leader. (more…)

www.thestatesman.net

DARJEELING, October 15: The houses of Mr Prabhat Khati, president of AIGL’s youth wing (Tarun Gorkha) and Mr Basant Singh, a suspended GJMM member were allegedly vandalised by GJMM supporters in Kalimpong today.

In the incidents that took place around 11 a.m., people in large groups surrounded their residences located at Lower Gumba Hatta and RC Mintri Road respectively and attacked the houses with stones.

While Mr Khati is presently in Delhi, the crowd threatened his wife who was alone and also damaged his car. The victim alleged that GJMM central committee members were a part of the crowd.

On the other hand, Mr Singh, recently suspended from the party for anti-party activities, has identified GJMM’s Kalimpong youth wing members for perpetrating the violence. “Mr Nima Sherpa, the secretary of Kalimpong youth unit was a part of the crowd. They burnt my bike and caused severe damage to my house,” he alleged

The violence was reportedly triggered after leaflets criticising the GJMM president Mr Bimal Gurung as an inept leader and his party’s programmes as illogical did rounds in Kalimpong a few days ago.

The AIGL president Mr Madan Tamang condemned the act, blaming the GJMM for it. “The cowardly act is in consonance with the GJMM dictatorial style of functioning,” he said. Referring to yesterday’s tarring incident, the leader blamed the senior GJMM leaders for lacking control over their cadres. “It is highly undemocratic. Everybody wishes to wear his or her traditional dress, yet no force should be applied on the reluctant,” Mr Tamang added. n sns

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, Oct. 14: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to put in place an umbrella organisation — Gorkhaland Tourism Board — to promote and protect the interest of tourism in the hills.

The board is expected to be ready before the spring tourist season.

However, Morcha president Bimal Gurung made it clear to a delegation of Eastern Himalayas Tour Operators’ Association who called on him last night that there would be no relaxation in the us of “GL” number plates by taxis travelling to the Darjeeling hills. (more…)

www.telegraphindia.com

Siliguri, Oct. 13: A trek, night halt, a taste of local culture and cuisine and all of them bundled into a 24-hour package for visitors to Neora Valley National Park.

The forest department today opened Red Panda Camp at Chaudapheri, an entry point to the park. Those putting up at the cottage will be taken on treks and bird watching. Local tribes will perform in the evenings.

The camp is located 8,000 ft above sea level and offers a mesmerising view of the Kanchenjunga. This is the first time that an accommodation has been set up at a stone’s throw from the park. (more…)