Here’s a link to the original story.

Here are some photos from the choir’s performance at Mani Lhakhang & Dr. Graham’s Homes.

e.g.

Follow the link above for the complete set of photographs.

Siliguri, Sept. 19: Ministers and the Siliguri mayor spent the day after the massive jolt calling on the injured people in hospitals and assessing the damage caused to buildings.

The mayor, Gangotri Datta, said the estimated damage was around Rs 250 crore and asked all councillors to prepare reports on the loss in their respective wards.

One person died and more than 150 people were injured in the earthquake in Siliguri yesterday. Most of the injured were discharged from different hospitals after receiving first aid.
A wall of a godown at Daroga Bazar in Darjeeling that collapsed on Sunday night. Picture by Suman Tamang
A portion of an embankment, which guards Jalpaiguri town from the Teesta, that was damaged in the quake on Sunday. Picture by Biplab Basak
Two children,who were injured when a wooden beam from the ceiling of their home fell on them, at the Raiganj district hospital on Monday. Picture by Nantu Dey
The cracked floor of a classroom at the nursing training centre in Balurghat district hospital.
Picture by Mithun Roy

Fourteen patients are still admitted to the Siliguri District Hospital, while three are undergoing treatment in North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. Bengal industries minister Partha Chatterjee and his cabinet colleague Gautam Deb visited the district hospital and the medical college this afternoon.

“Presently, 14 patients are undergoing treatment at the district hospital. I have told the doctors that if any of the injured persons needs to be shifted to any other hospital, the government will bear the expenses,” Chatterjee told journalists.

Before proceeding to the medical college, the ministers attended the funeral of Binod Agarwal, who died when a wall had come crashing down on him in the quake. The 48-year-old was a resident of Khalpara.

Along with Agarwal, six others had also been injured in the wall collapse and they are all out of danger now.

Datta postponed today’s monthly board meeting of the SMC and sat with all councillors to take stock of the situation. She told the councillors to visit their respective wards and find out the damage caused by the tremor.

“I have requested the councillors to prepare a report on the total loss in their localities and submit it to me in two days so that necessary restoration can be started as early as possible. Considering the impact of the earthquake, the estimated loss of property is around Rs 250 crore. We will request the state government to release at least Rs 50 crore immediately for the restoration in Siliguri,” said Datta.

The mayor distributed forms to the councillors to mention the number of damaged structures, affected people and relief camps in their wards. The councillors will also have to find out the number of injured persons and assess the loss of livestock.

Shops and markets opened today like any normal day in Siliguri. Khokan Gupta, the secretary of Bidhan Market Byabsayi Samity, said: “After yesterday’s shocker, the residents are coming out of their homes for shopping. But the quake has slowed down the flow of customers to the market ahead of the Durga Puja.”

Most of the people suffered injuries when they jumped from balconies and terraces when buildings trembled in the quake recorded 6.8 on the Richter scale.

Dhrubojyoti Dey, a haulier from Sevoke Road, escaped luckily when the balcony of his apartment collapsed in the earthquake.

“I was in the room with my wife Sujata. Suddenly, the entire building trembled and the balcony fell down. Luckily, we managed to escape the mishap,” said Dey.

At North Bengal University, around 300 boarders in four girls’ hostels refused to go back to their rooms after the earthquake last night.

“The girls were too frightened to go back to their hostels as they feared that the buildings might have developed cracks. We had to accommodate them in the guesthouse of the varsity and on the ground floor of the administrative building for the night. They went back to the hostels this morning,” said J.C. Basak, the chairperson of the hostel monitoring committee at the NBU.

Officials of the varsity’s engineering department said no cracks had appeared in any building on the campus.

“We had called structural engineers of a private construction firm to survey the buildings on the campus. The engineers checked the buildings and said no structure had cracked in the tremor. The formal report of the survey will be submitted tomorrow,” said P.N. Basak, the joint chief engineer of the NBU.

Tremor changes
Earlier

Now


One of the spires of the MacFarlane Memorial Church in Kalimpong fell off after Sunday’s earthquake. The church, constructed in 1891, is named after Scottish missionary William MacFarlane, who had set up the Scottish Universities’ Mission Institution, which is celebrating its 125 years this year. The church was constructed under the stewardship of William Sutherland, another Scottish missionary, with the help of the local people. SUMI principal Nava Ratna Pradhan said the church is considered to be the “mother church” of Kalimpong. “It was designed in Scotland and is a typical Scottish structure of the time,” he added. Pradhan said the church suffered a major damage in the earthquake. “The spirals of the church have been destroyed, so have the towers,” he said. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

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www.kalimpong.info

(Here’s a larger picture.)

Siliguri: A baby elephant fell into a water tank in West Bengal’s Kalimpong area. He was part of a herd of 100 wild elephants who stopped at a reservoir to drink some water on Tuesday. (See Pics)

The elephants surrounded the water tank and trumpeted loudly to attract attention. Then they took off.

The Army was called in but suggested that local forest officials handle the rescue mission.

Range officer Bijon Talkudar was in charge. A special machine drained the reservoir of its water; a crane tried to lift the elephant out; and finally, the walls of the tank were demolished.

The baby elephant was not hurt; he has been released into the forest.
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www.kalimpong.info

PhotoBlog – Leopard mauls six in village in India

Diptendu Dutta / AFP – Getty Images
A leopard attacks a forest guard at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara on the outskirts of Siliguri on Tuesday, July 19.

Diptendu Dutta / AFP – Getty Images
A leopard is tranquilized after attacking forest guards at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara on the outskirts of Siliguri on Tuesday. Six people were mauled by the leopard after the feline strayed into the village area before it was caught by forestry department officials.

According to AFP, six people were mauled by the leopard after the feline strayed into the Prakash Nagar village area before it was caught by forestry department officials. Forest officials made several attempt to tranquilize the full grown leopard that was wandering through a densely populated area when curious crowds startled the animal, a wildlife official said.

And some photographs from Himalayan Darpan:

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www.kalimpong.info

Looks like the Coronation Bridge is getting a long overdue overhaul. Too bad the color of the bridge is rather garishly unfortunate (in my opinion).

visions of hell: Impact of landslides : Gandhi Ashram School at 6th Mile (Kalimpong) decides to shift

Gandhi Ashram School at 6th Mile (Upper Tashiding) Kalimpong is a school which was founded in 1993 by the late Father Ed McGuire s.j, a Jesuit priest from Canada. It is a unique school in many respects and is a must-see site for any visitor to Kalimpong…

… the school is now compelled to shift to a (hopefully safer) location due to subsidence in the entire school premises – the cause is scouring and erosion by a natural rivulet or jhora which runs just below the school.

Follow the link above for the complete story and images. Here’s one of the photographs.

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www.kalimpong.info

Photo credit: Abdul Martin

Photo Credit: Mahendra Pradhan

A slideshow by Mr. Chuck Basi.

Photo: Chendup Lepcha

See the rest at : Photo Feature: 279th birth anniversary of King Gaeboo Aachyok

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www.kalimpong.info