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The Times of India
Caesar Mandal, TNN | Oct 25, 2011, 01.55PM IST

DARJEELING: A long, narrow wooden platform suspended in the air by iron cables – that’s the ‘bridge’ over Lodhoma Khola on which 20,000 people of four panchayats are dependent for their daily grind.

Long queues of vehicles are seen waiting on either end, with one car at a time making the perilous journey. The minimum of movements on the Raj-era bridge rocks the platform violently. As the brittle wooden planks creak under the wheels, those inside have their heart in their mouth because the platform seems capable of collapsing into the gorge any moment.

The bridge on Lodhoma Khola is not one of a kind. It’s one of 35 such suspension bridges in Darjeeling district which connect hundreds of mountain villages isolated by ridges and ravines of the Himalayas. One of them collapsed in Bijanbari two days back, killing 32 people and injuring many. But it has changed nothing, simply because the people have no other option.

“More than 20,000 villagers are dependent on the hanging bridge that connects four gram panchayats – Rimbick, Lodhoma I and II and Sreekhola – with Darjeeling,” said Anup Subba, a panchayat member at Lodhoma. Leaving their lives at the mercy of destiny, hundreds of villagers and tourists travel along similar bridges in different parts of the district every day.

“An incident like Bijanbari may happen here any moment,” conceded Aloka Tamang, a resident of Rimbik, after crossing over on the other side.

Villagers at Lodhoma claimed that most of these hanging bridges had been built by the British to connect tea gardens with the main road. After Independence, most of these bridges were renovated.

“Bijanbari bridge was also built by British planters in 1942. In 1970, the PWD renovated it,” said Madhusudan Pradhan, an elderly villager.

But since the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in the late-Eighties, little care has been taken of these lifelines of the Hills. The Bailey and concrete bridge and the culverts are also in poor condition due to lack of maintenance.

“The recent earthquake led to cracks in several bridges. But no one is bothered about repairs,” alleged Kundan Sharma, a resident of Majhitar.

A PWD officer admitted that little repair and renovation has been done over the past few decades. The political impasse in the Hills over statehood demand for four decades has ruined the infrastructure, said an officer.

GJM leaders blamed predecessor Subash Ghising. “He corrupted every organ of the administration. Funds were released for repair works every year but the work was never done.” Bharati Tamang, the widow of slain ABGL leader Madan Tamang, also joined in the blame game.

Laxman Pradhan, another ABGL leader, said: “The condition of at least four key suspension bridges at Majhitar, Peshok, Lodhoma and Simtam is critical. These bridges are the only links for several far-flung areas in the district and the neighboring Sikkim.”

Bijanbari incident also exposed the critical condition of the health services. Bijanbari which has a rural hospital could serve little for the injured. All of them had to shift in Darjeeling. “Its a herculean job for us. We have to start from the ruins,” admits GJM MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri.
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VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Oct. 24: The Bijanbari bridge collapse has brought to the fore the lack of basic amenities at the hill hospitals, whose staff were yesterday praised by the chief minister for their efficiency in tackling the emergency that arose out of the accident.

But the healthcare system needs more than just praise. Basic equipment like CT scan and MRI machines have not yet been installed at the Darjeeling district hospital while the Bijanbari rural hospital has been waiting for a generator for the past two years. Nearly 100 of the 110 people injured in the bridge accident had been admitted to the Darjeeling district hospital.

There are neither intensive care units (ICU), equipment to map brainstem auditory evoked responses nor specialised units like trauma care to treat accident victims like the ones injured in the bridge collapse.

The chief medical officer of health of Darjeeling, Subir Bhowmick, admitted that the district hospital did not have CT scan or MRI machines.

“We have, however, been promised an MRI machine by the NHPC,” said Bhowmick.

The lack of a generator made matters worse for the medical staff at the Bijanbari hospital. “It was difficult to work without a generator as power went off as soon as the footbridge collapsed,” said a hospital employee.

Bhowmick said the health department had not been able to get a generator for Bijanbari hospital for the past two years.
A deserted fair ground with a Ferris wheel near the collapsed bridge at Bijanbari on Monday. Most of the people, who were on the bridge when it caved in, had come to attend the fair. Picture by Amit Datta

“Our officials have been running from pillar to post for a generator but it has not yet arrived,” said the doctor.

No official of the DGHC, which is responsible for supplying the generator, could be reached. The doctor, however, said the administration was trying to get more equipment for the hospital.

“An order has already been placed to acquire a colour Doppler for ultrasound and echocardiogram,” said Bhowmick.

Doctors at the Darjeeling hospital also believe that if instruments like C-Arm with orthopaedic operation table had been available in the hills, the number of patients referred to Siliguri would have come down.

“Such instruments are very much needed. If we get the C-Arm (image intensifier) with orthopaedic table, we will not have to send many patients down to Siliguri,” said a doctor from Darjeeling.

Bhowmick, however, said things were improving at the Darjeeling hospital.

“We are planning to construct a three-storey block at the Darjeeling hospital which will have neonatal and burns units and a psychiatric ward. A soil test to set up the building has already been done,” said Bhowmick adding that funds were also likely to be released to set up a ward for treatment of non-communicable diseases like diabetes.

Doctors in Darjeeling, however, said units like intensive therapy, which includes multi-trauma units that also double as ICU should also be set up immediately.

Congress leader and state irrigation minister Manas Bhunia today visited the Darjeeling hospital and said the government would go to any length to treat those injured at Bijanbari.
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KINSUK BASU AND VIVEK CHHETRI

Oct. 24: A team of PWD officials headed by the chief engineer of the Darjeeling division has been constituted to look into the condition of the bridges in the hills, two days after a walkway collapsed at Bijanbari killing 32 people.

The move comes after chief minister Mamata Banerjee returned to Calcutta this afternoon from Darjeeling and held a meeting with top PWD officials to draw up an action plan on how to go about checking the condition of the bridges in the hills. The team will carry out the survey “immediately, starting in a day or two”, PWD officials said this evening.

“There are around 40 suspension and concrete bridges in the Darjeeling division. The team will physically visit and verify the condition of each of these structures. After the assessment, caution notices would be put up mentioning the maximum load that a particular structure would be allowed to bear,” PWD secretary A.R. Bardhan told The Telegraph. “At the same time, the PWD would take up the work of reconstructing the suspension bridge over the Little Rangit,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Darjeeling district magistrate Saumitra Mohan said he has asked for fitness certificates from all government agencies that are in charge of bridges and buildings in the hills. “Those buildings that may have been damaged in the recent earthquake need to be inspected also,” Mohan said.

A DGHC engineer said the council has been repairing such bridges on a “need basis”. “There are nearly 40 such bridges across the three hill subdivisions and we do regularly inspect and repair them,” the official added.

The DGHC official, however, admitted that the Bijanbari bridge had not been repaired in recent times. “According to information we have, the bridge had not sustained any cracks or damage during the September 18 earthquake. We believe that the walkway at Bijanbari collapsed because of excessive load,” the official added.

Only about 20 to 25 people should be allowed to move along such a bridge at any given time. “In the case of the bridge at Bijanbari, there were about 150 people moving on it when it collapsed,” the official added.
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VIVEK CHHETRI

Bijanbari, Oct. 23: It was a matter of few steps that separated life from death.

Santosh Chhetri had milked his cow much earlier than usual yesterday before leaving for Chungthung Tar with wife Chandrakumari and their six-year-old daughter Anusha.

The family from Lungchowk, 6km from here, had gone to see a cultural programme.

“The crowd was huge and my wife thoroughly enjoyed the show. But after sometime, we started crossing the bridge as I thought my daughter would enjoy the village fair more. I was also eager to go to the fair,” said 45-year-old Chhetri.

The fair was being held at Bijanbari, on the other end of the bridge.

The Chhetris had barely walked four steps after crossing the bridge on the Little Rangit when they heard a loud thud followed by screams and cries.

Chhetri recounted that he fell to the ground as the steel cables of the suspension bridge vibrated. “I can’t recollect if my wife and child were also thrown to the ground. My mind was completely blank and even now, I cannot remember how I met them later,” Chhetri said.

The three met after “quite sometime” and Santosh sent his wife and daughter home while he stayed back to help rescue people.

“The lights went off immediately. People were screaming and crying all around and I tried my best to help,” said Chhetri who came to the banks of the Little Rangit this morning.

“I am not feeling well even today. I have this strange feeling going through my body,” said the farmer.

Mohammed Afsar Alam, who was at a nearby shop at the time of the tragedy, recounted what he had seen.

“I was in my shop when I suddenly heard the bridge give away. My immediate thoughts were about the seven members of my family, my three daughters, wife Saijadi Khatoon, two nieces and my brother Samir Ansari. I tried to contact my brother but could not get through. But soon he called me up to say they were all fine,” said the tailor.

Relieved after the call, Alam rushed to help rescue the affected people.

“I and my friends pulled out six bodies from the river. Everyone present there pitched in to help. Even private car were used to ferry people to the hospital,” said Alam.

Dhan Raj Rai was also among the fortunate ones.

“I think I had walked on the bridge for about 20seconds when it collapsed. I am lucky to have survived. Had I walked a bit faster and taken a few more steps I would probably have fallen straight into the river,” said the 20-year-old.

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VIVEK CHHETRI

Bijanbari, Oct. 23: The Little Rangit river was the muse for writer Sovit. Yesterday, he was swept away by the same river that was the source of inspiration for many of his works.

Mother Sabitri Rai had crossed the path of the 46-year-old Sovit, who was on his way to attend the cultural festival at Chungthung Tar, only to realise a few minutes later that she would not meet him again.

Sovit was a teacher of Vidyasagar Primary School in Bijanbari. A lyricist, playwright and a writer, he had decided to go to the cultural show to meet his friends, Uday and Manila Sotang, husband-wife performers.

“I saw him going to the cultural fest as I was returning. I did not speak to him and he, too, probably only had a glimpse of me. Moments later, I realised that such a tragedy had taken place,” said Sabitri at her Chayanpuri residence.

People who had gathered at Sovit’s funeral said the writer was reserved.

“He did not like going out much. He only went out for specific works. He was the president of the Aruna Lama Salik Nirman Samity and also a founding member of Bijanbari Kala Sangh,” said his friend Arun Rai.

Sovit is survived by his wife Ramala, son Ashwin, 19, and daughter Richa, 17.

Just a few hundred feet down Sovit’s house, Manoj Ghimire, a 33-year-old driver, can’t just fathom how he will survive the rest of his life without the dear ones. Manoj lost his nine-year-old daughter Niruta and two-year-old twins Nisha and Nishant in the tragedy.

“I had gone to attend the cultural show during the day and I did not know that my wife Devimaya and my three children had planned to go in the evening. They had all gone together but only my wife returned….to this empty house,” said Manoj.

The father looked dazed, unable to bring himself to talk to his visitors.

He merely went inside his house to show this correspondent a photograph of his daughter Niruta before quickly putting it in his shirt pocket to return to the room where the bodies had been kept.

A stone’s throw away, hundreds had gathered at Gurungs’s house.

“Nine-year-old Tsheng Gurung has died and his brother is admitted to the Darjeeling hospital with a fractured leg. The mother, Bandana Gurung, is in a serious condition and has been referred to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, while the father Raju Tamang who is in the army and is currently posted in Kashmir is still on his way,” said a neighbour of the Gurung family.

The irony associated with the Little Rangit doesn’t end with Sovit. A school called the Little Rangit English School also lost three of its students.

“Jharna Tamang, Sushma Subba and Niruta Ghimere died in Little Rangit river,” said Yuvraj Chhetri, a teacher of the school.

The people of Bijanbari hope that such ironies are never played again.

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RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Darjeeling, Oct. 23: More than 100 victims of the Bijanbari bridge collapse had been brought to the Darjeeling district hospital since last night but the authorities complained that the unhindered entry of visitors was hampering the service.

Relatives of those who have been admitted, too, conceded that the chaos was because of the rush and not for any apparent mismanagement by the hospital staff who have been handling the emergency since yesterday.

Volunteers have been also lending their hand in distributing food and carrying patients to the wards. But the vast majority of the crowd consisted of family members, relatives and friends of the victims, who stood in groups on corridors and the staircase.

Although there was visible police bandobast, they seemed unable to control the mad rush of visitors.

The hospital authorities were forced to put up posters at the entrance, requesting people to allow unhindered movement to the staff to enable them to do their job.

Around noon today, the police posted guards at the entrance to the first floor of the five-storied building as well, allowing entry to only those with “genuine” reasons.

“Why are so many unwanted people being allowed? Our movement is being obstructed at every step,” said Raju Karki from Phul Bazar, standing outside the ward where his nephew had been admitted with a wounded back. But Karki was accompanied by at least three persons.

Another relative of an injured youth was frantically trying to negotiate through the crowd to meet a doctor.

Binod Thapa, 23, who had a home-made sling around his neck that was supporting his left hand which hurt him, said he was trying to go out of the hospital and get his X-rays done elsewhere because of the rush.

“The problem is, we don’t know which part of Binod’s body needs to be X-rayed. He has injuries on his hand, neck and back. For the hand, we had made a sling for him at home. Please guide us to the doctor,” Binod’s relative requested this reporter at the entrance to the third floor of the hospital.
One of the injured at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

In a ward on the same floor with 20-odd women patients, more than twice the number of visitors had gathered around the beds.

One of the victim-patients was 15-year-old Yumita Yogi with multiple injuries. Her father Charan Yogi, who was standing on the foot of the bed, said she was among the five members of his family who had fallen off the bridge.

“My niece Jharna Tamang died after the fall. They were all bang in the middle of the bridge at the time of the collapse. Others have suffered injuries,” he said.

District magistrate Saumitra Mohan said 110 persons had been injured. Of them, 102 were admitted to the district hospital and the rest to Bijanbari hospital. “From among the 102, Darjeeling hospital referred 21 patients to North Bengal medical College and Hospital. Six persons were released,” said Mohan who has been monitoring the rescue operation from a room in the Darjeeling hospital. A help desk has also been set up.

When The Telegraph met Mohan around 1pm, he said the rescue operation had been officially stopped. He said a composite team made up of the army, fire brigade, forest and others had carried out the operation with the help of the local people. “The death toll is 32 now,” he said.

Governor M.K. Narayanan visited the district hospital in the afternoon. “It is an unfortunate incident. The district administration is doing its best to deal with the situation,” he said before leaving.

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KINSUK BASU

Darjeeling, Oct. 23: Mamata Banerjee today tried to apply the healing touch as she toured the hills and plains for seven hours but made it clear that she would not visit Bijanbari, the tragedy site as it would add to the confusion.

From the moment she landed in Siliguri, she tried to ensure that the administration did its best to carry out rescue operation and provided medical attention.

“I don’t have time to talk. I have a lot of things to do,” said the chief minister while leaving the Bagdogra airport.

The first stop was North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, where 16 people had been admitted after yesterday’s tragedy. With rail minister Dinesh Trivedi and junior health minister Sudip Bandopadhaya in tow, she visited all the three wards.

After checking out the condition of the patients, she asked the doctors and nurses to ensure that the accident victims got the best medical attention. “You have done a great job. Please keep it up and ensure that they get proper care,” she said before rushing out.

Mamata was aware that her visit had drawn the crowd to the medical college and so she did not spend much time there, hurrying back to the SUV to head for her next stop, Darjeeling district hospital.

By then she had already announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the dead, Rs 50,000 for critically injured and Rs 25,000 for people with minor injuries.

During the three-and-a-half-hour drive through the hills, she was glued to her cellphone instructing officials and asking for updates.

But the mass leader in Mamata did not miss the huge assembly near Mirik, where the convoy stopped for a few minutes and she chatted with the women waiting for a glimpse of her.

“I have ensured since my arrival that the post-mortems of the dead are done as early as possible and the bodies are sent back home. I have thanked everyone, including my friends from the army and the DGHC,” said Mamata after reaching Darjeeling.

Walking at her usual brisk pace, she entered the hospital in Darjeeling and visited female surgery, eye and paediatric wards, where most of the 110 injured persons were undergoing treatment.

“Don’t worry please, you will get well soon,” Mamata told Kanta Subba, 42, lying on Bed 174 in the female ward before turning around to talk to Pooja Chettri in a bed next to her.

“What’s wrong with you? We are all with you. Don’t worry please. See I am here,” Mamata told the 16-year-old as Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Roshan Giri and the doctors looked on.

A senior state government official, who was part of the convoy, said Mamata visited the hills today to show the people that she was by their side in the hour of crisis.

When she stepped out of the hospital, it was clear that her message had trickled down to the people of Darjeeling. A huge crowd had gathered outside and she waved at them amid chants of “Didi”, “Didi”.

When some people asked her whether she would be visiting Bijanbari, she said she did not want to go there to “add to the confusion”. Mamata will leave for Calcutta tomorrow morning.

“I have tried ensuring that the entire administration is in full swing with members from the disaster management group working in tandem with the fire, health, police and the district administration,” Mamata said in the evening.

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VIVEK CHHETRI

Bijanbari, Oct. 23: Residents blamed themselves today for the loss of 32 lives, including that of three siblings under 12, in the collapse of a footbridge over the Little Rangit river in Darjeeling that was fit to hold 15-20 pedestrians but was packed with at least 150 last evening.

Maitree Chakraborty, the block divisional officer of Bijanbari, about 40km from Darjeeling town, said: “We had posted police personnel for crowd management. Things were fine during the day but in the evening, it seems that the crowd was unmanageable, leading to this accident.”

Two fairs — one a village fair and the other a cultural show organised by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha — at two ends of the 150ft walkway that connected Bijanbari with Chungthung Tar were the reason for the heavy traffic.

Residents, who regretted that they had not been careful and recalled how a vigilant villager had ensured no one died when an earlier bamboo bridge at the spot was swept away by the river in 1968, said some youths even rode bikes on the bridge meant only for pedestrians.

A hushed crowd gathered at the banks of the Little Rangit today, where only mangled steel cables and wooden planks remain.

Bijanbari town shut down as residents went from house to house with khadas (traditional Tibetan scarf) and flowers to offer condolences to families of the dead. Many had lost more than one member.

Manoj Ghimire, 33, a driver from Chayanpuri, lost his nine-year-old daughter Niruta and two-year-old twins Nisha and Nishant.

Most of the deaths resulted from internal haemorrhage as people hit rocks when they fell into the river. The Chungthung Tar end, where the cable came off the hook with which it had been pinned to the ground, cuts down sharply into the river that has large jutting rocks.

Sanjay Pradhan, a Bijanbari resident, said: “I think if the bridge had collapsed from the Bijanbari end, most of the people would have fallen on the slopes and not plunged straight into the river.”

The large crowd ensured that rescue work started immediately.

“We carried on with the rescue work till 2.30am today and resumed at 9am. It was a joint operation by the army, police, fire brigade, civil defence, forest personnel and the locals…. The search and rescue operation was called off at noon,” said Tamal Das, the subdivisional officer of Darjeeling.

The rescue team went downstream for more than a kilometre to search for bodies.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung, along with all the members of the party’s central committee, visited the homes of the victims.

In Darjeeling town, the Morcha put up posters asking people not to burst crackers on Diwali as a mark of respect for the dead.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited Siliguri and Darjeeling and the state government has announced a Rs 2 lakh compensation for families of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

North Bengal development affairs minister Gautam Deb, forest minister Hiten Barman, and minister of state for consumer affairs Sunil Tirkey visited the accident spot.

Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh has decided to sanction Rs 50 lakh to construct a better bridge but the residents are only too aware they need to be more careful themselves.

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VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Oct. 22: A bridge packed with a festival crowd caved in near Darjeeling town this evening, killing at least 27 people when the wooden walkway tumbled 150ft into a swift-flowing river.

Police sources said nearly 80 people were injured in the 7pm collapse in Bijanbari, about 40km from Darjeeling town.

Most of those on the bridge — suspended by steel cables over the Little Rangit — were Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters who had gathered for a cultural programme organised by the outfit as part of its five-day festival in the hills. Today was the festival’s last day.

Darjeeling district magistrate Saumitra Mohan said at least 27 people were killed in the collapse. “We have reports that some of the casualties were taken away by villagers from the incident site.”

Mohan, who reached the spot, added that efforts were on to send the injured to the Darjeeling district hospital.

Police sources said the darkness was hampering rescue and efforts were on to set up floodlights. “There is considerable water in the swift-flowing river and we fear that some of the victims could have been swept away by the current. The terrain is also very difficult,” said a senior police officer on the spot.

Sources in the district administration said the bridge, about 80ft long and 6ft wide, was built by the Darjeeling zilla parishad in 1972.

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said party volunteers were helping the police to rescue the injured.

“Our party president, Bimal Gurung, and I had visited Bijanbari this morning…. In the evening there was a large crowd, mostly local residents and those from nearby tea gardens of Chunthung, Marybong and Linga, who had gathered to witness the cultural programmes and the mela on the other side of the bridge,” Giri said.

In Calcutta, chief minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters she had asked north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb and Siliguri MLA Rudranath Bhattacharya to rush to Darjeeling.

Mamata, who is expected to leave for Darjeeling tomorrow, said the Bengal government would do all it could to stand by those affected “during this tragic hour” and bear all medical expenses.

Survivor Nirmal Chhetri, a driver, recalled the horror from his bed in Darjeeling district hospital. “There was a loud sound and I saw the bridge collapsing. I fell and cannot remember what happened after that.”

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VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Oct. 19: Tourists visiting the Darjeeling hills will soon have to pay a nominal “tourist tax” as the cash-strapped local administration tests the waters to generate revenue.

The district administration has decided to levy a tourist tax of Rs 3 per person. A tourist car will have to pay Rs 20 at the time of entry and a bus ferrying tourists will have to pay Rs 50. Such levies do not exist now in the hills. The administration is hoping to implement the new measures by November 15.

Although the fee of Rs 3 per tourist seems low, civic officials said such was the gravity of the funds crunch that any additional cash would come in handy. “As around 3 lakh tourists come to the hills every year, we expect to generate around Rs 14 lakh through the taxes on tourists and their vehicles,” said Tamal Das, the chairman of the board of administrators of the Darjeeling municipality.

“The Darjeeling municipality has run up an overdraft of Rs 70 lakh in the past two months while clearing the salaries of its employees. Under such circumstances, any source of income is a welcome relief,” Das added.

Sources said the idea was to get the tourist tax accepted in principle. “Later, we might think of raising it to generate more revenue,” an official said.

Apart from the tourist tax, the Darjeeling municipality has also decided to introduce parking fees in various zones for the first time in the hills.

“The tourist tax, along with the parking fees, should help the Darjeeling municipality immensely,” said Das.

The tourists will “most probably” have to pay the tax near the Ghoom railway station. “We are looking at setting up a gate near the Ghoom railway station as that is the entry point to Darjeeling,” said Das.

The municipality officials will focus on taxis that are reserved by tourists while coming up to Darjeeling from places like Siliguri and Gangtok. “Since most of the tourists prefer to hire taxis rather than share space with local passengers in share taxis, collecting the tourist tax will not be a problem. Moreover, we do not think that the tourist will have much problem in paying Rs 3 per individual,” Das said.

Saumitra Mohan, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, said the modalities were being worked out to introduce parking fees in all the three hill towns of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong. “We have scheduled a meeting with transport syndicates on October 27. Traffic management is one thing we are seriously trying to address across the hills and we have already held meeting with the sub-divisional officers of Kalimpong and Kurseong,” Mohan said.

The Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council has floated a tender to build a multi-layer parking space along Lebong Cart Road. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 19 crore.

The district administration is looking at door-to-door collection of garbage, which is currently dumped in vats and is cleared by the municipality vehicles.

“We are trying to involve local samajs (neighbourhood bodies) so that garbage can be collected daily. We are looking at charging Rs 2 per day from every household so that garbage can be segregated into bio-degradable and non degradable bags for efficient disposal,” Mohan said.

The officials are also working on streamlining hawkers along Nehru road, which leads to the Mall. “We do not want shopkeepers to keep their wares on footpaths. There should be more walking space for pedestrians,” Mohan added.

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VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Oct. 20: The Darjeeling municipality has decided to disconnect water connections of nearly 160 tax defaulters, an indication that the administration is trying to get a grip on the state of affairs in the hills by going on a drive to collect its dues.

The civic body has already identified the top five property tax defaulters in each of the 32 wards of the municipality. The highest tax default is Rs 5.86 lakh, followed by Rs 2.85 lakh and Rs 2.34 lakh.

The mop-up drive comes after three years during which the government had avoided all confrontation with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha which renewed the statehood agitation in the hills.

Although the Morcha had kept the hill civic bodies out of the ambit of its non-co-operation movement against the government — when it had asked the hill people not to pay taxes like electricity and telephone bills, land rents and even transport taxes — the administration had not taken any action against civic defaulters.

The Morcha had exempted the hill municipalities from its movement on the ground that the local bodies had to raise their own funds to meet 20 per cent of its total expenditure on the salary of its staff, who are mostly local people. The non-cooperation movement had started in April 2008.

Although the municipality claimed that the decision to book defaulters was taken to bail out the civic body from financial crisis, observers believe it is aimed at sending out a strong message.

Tamal Das, chairperson of the board of administrators that runs the civic body, said: “The municipality is facing a huge financial crunch and this is why we decided to take stern action. We have already issued notices to the top five defaulters in each of the 32 wards and our officials have started disconnecting water supplies to those households whose owners have not replied appropriately to our notices.”

Meaning business, Das said: “We will give the defaulters 15 days’ time after which we will also start disconnecting sewerage connections.”

The Darjeeling municipality is indeed facing a huge financial crunch. Sources said the total outstanding dues crossed the Rs 8 crore mark on March 31, 2011. “It is difficult for us to manage as we have to pool in 20 per cent of the salaries of the 456 permanent employees of the municipality. Also, we do not get any financial help to pay the 193 daily wage workers who get Rs 75 a day,” said a municipality official.

The civic body collects around Rs 25 lakh per month as various taxes. But the total expenditure on salaries, wages of daily workers, gratuity to retired employees and a portion of the pension stands at Rs 1.02 crore. Sources said the municipality was running on a monthly deficit of Rs 20 lakh. “We need to collect around Rs 45 lakh per month to function smoothly,” said an official.

Often, the municipality has to pay hill allowances from its own kitty as the government delays payment.

Observers feel that the recent civic drive would be a cue to government departments to mop up other outstanding dues like the electricity tariff. The hills have not paid electricity bills worth Rs 80 crore to the power department. The Morcha has asked the hill people to clear the dues only from August 2011.

But there is still no word either from the party or the state government on the collection or settlement of other outstanding dues — like telephone bills and land tax to name a few — that have reached Rs 100 crore.

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RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, Oct. 20: More than 500 people today took to the streets to demand 15 minutes of daily water supply but the civic body has dismissed it as impossible under the existing system.

The Gorkha Dukhi Niwarak Sammelan and the Kalimpong Sangrakchhan Samiti, which jointly took out the silent rally, later submitted a memorandum to Kalimpong subdivisional officer L.N. Sherpa with a five-point charter of demands.

The demands include supply of water for at least 15 minutes everyday, immediate repair of the Thukchuk water source and constitution of a monitoring team on water supply. “There is mismanagement in delivering water from Thukchuk to the reservoir. We also noticed water seeping from the joints of the pipes along a 16-km stretch,” said B.K. Pradhan, the treasurer of GDNS and a KSS member.

Thukchuk is one of the water sources of the town. The main source, however, is the Neora river.

Landslides triggered first by rains and subsequently by last month’s earthquake caused extensive damage to the pipelines from both the sources. For the hills, a “normal” supply is half an hour of water either on alternate days or every third day. Even that had been hampered for the past one month.

An official in the public health engineering (water works) department, which looks after distribution, however, said it was not possible to supply water on a daily basis because of the antiquated distribution system.

“It is not feasible to supply water for 15 minutes in the present system. The distribution system needs to be re-modified totally. Preliminary work on modernising it has been initiated recently,” said the official.

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