Map of Siliguri - Darjeeling's problem, can well be solved ?!!

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Siliguri, April 28: More than 200 CPM supporters today demonstrated in front of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, demanding the immediate removal of the subdivisional officer who had allegedly ordered police to batoncharge those blocking the SMC’s entrance yesterday.

Using loudspeakers, the protesters, who included CPM district leaders and most of the councillors, began the sloganeering at 10.30am. They also demanded action against the police officers carrying out the lathicharge and accused the mayor and other Congress leaders of inciting the law enforcers to attack the “peaceful demonstrators” during yesterday’s 12-hour strike.

Today, policemen armed with batons were deployed at the site and keeping a watch over the situation.

“We want immediate removal of the SDO, Rajat Saini, who had ordered the police to lathicharge the peaceful demonstration of the councillors and the CPM workers in front of the SMC without any provocation,” said Mukul Sengupta, a CPM councillor and the Siliguri zonal committee secretary.

“The mayor and other councillors from the Congress and the Trinamul Congress are responsible for instigating the police and the administration against us. We condemn it and will carry out our protests across the subdivision unless our demands (of transferring the SDO and taking steps against the police) are met.”

The CPM claimed that (only) 19 of its supporters had been injured in the lathicharge.

“After the incident, we perceived that the SDO had reached the spot with a plan and ordered the lathicharge without any provocation. It is an irony that the mayor denied having any clue about the police action,” said Jibesh Sarkar, a state committee member of the CPM.

Today, inspector general of police K.L. Tamta said he was expecting a report from the additional superintendent of police, Siliguri. “Once I receive it, I will forward it to the appropriate quarters.” Saini said he had sent a report of the incident to the district magistrate yesterday.

At the SMC today, the Congress and Trinamul Congress councillors passed the first logo of the civic body. The Opposition Left councillors boycotted the meeting.

“We had invited designs for the logo last month and got response from artists from across north Bengal. A seven-member committee formed for this purpose finalised the logo,” said Nantu Pal, the deputy mayor. “We will publish it on May 9 on the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.”

Cong-Trinamul pact eludes 5 of 7 civic bodies

Current Political Status in the Siliguri Corridor - have to understand their long-standing needs, unlike Bengal ?!!

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Siliguri, April 28: Three days have passed since the filing of nominations for the civic polls has started but the Congress and the Trinamul Congress have managed to strike deals only in Cooch Behar and Mathabhanga.

Along with the two, the five other municipalities that will go to polls on May 30 are Dinhata and Toofanganj in Cooch Behar, Englishbazar and Old Malda in Malda and Jalpaiguri (see chart).

In Jalpaiguri, district Congress president Biswaranjan Sarkar blamed the “indomitable attitude” of the Trinamul leadership for not arriving at a consensus. “We have offered them five seats but they are insisting on 11. We have received the PCC nod (to go alone) and will announce the names of all 25 candidates tomorrow,” he said.

Trinamul leaders, on the other hand, have stuck to their own logic. “We have readied a booklet containing the details of poll results for the past 10 years, indicating the swing in our favour,” said Chandan Bhowmik, the party secretary-general in Jalpaiguri. “We hardly see any chances of reconciliation and are preparing to field candidates in all the wards.”

The problem is the same in Malda district. In Englishbazar, the Congress is not ready to give up more than seven seats to Trinamul, which has eight seats now, citing recent political changes. Trinamul, however, says it will not budge from its decision to contest 13 or 14 seats. “In 2005, I was in Trinamul which is why the results went in their favour,” said Krishnendu Choudhury, a district Congress leader. “The situation has changed now.”

In the Old Malda municipality, the Congress has already announced names of their candidates in 15 seats, while Trinamul wants at least nine.

Babla Sarkar, the Malda district Trinamul president, said if the Congress stuck to its decision, his party would field candidates in all 18 seats of Old Malda. “The same stands with Englishbazar.”

Congress MP from Raiganj Deepa Das Munshi accused the Trinamul of being adamant. “We want to make it clear that the Congress, under no circumstances, will do something that might affect the image of the party and if no alliance is formed, we have nothing to do,” she said from Delhi.

The situation is slightly better in Cooch Behar district where the allies have agreed on seat sharing in two civic bodies, while consensus is eluding Toofanganj and Dinhata.

In the 12-ward Toofanganj, the dispute is centred around Ward 4, which both the parties have been demanding. The Congress accepts four seats as proposed by Trinamul but demands the ward. Trinamul is ready to part with four seats, barring that ward.

In Dinhata, the Congress and Trinamul have decided to file candidates in four and 10 seats respectively, with decision pending for the one.

Observers feel that with only three days left for filing of nominations — the last date being May 3 as offices will remain closed on May 1 and 2 — the chances of striking an alliance in Malda and Jalpaiguri districts seem to be poor. “However, if the parties can negotiate a deal by May 6, the last date for withdrawal of candidature, there can be some last-minute adjustments,” an observer said.

A tennis court at the Darjeeling Gymkhana Club, one of the few sports hubs in town. (Photo by Suman Tamang)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH
BY VIVEK CHHETRI  

Darjeeling, April 28: In the late 1950s, when Darjeeling had a population of 60,000, it boasted of 18 lawn tennis courts, a nine-hole golf course, a mini racecourse, along with more than a dozen badminton and table tennis facilities. 

Today, when the population has tripled, there is neither a golf course nor a horse course. The town has only four lawn tennis courts to show off and two of them belong to educational institutions. 

Hayden Hall and the Darjeeling Gymkhana Club are the only places where few people can play badminton. There is hardly any place to play table tennis. 

In the past, international players like Prakash Padukone — the first Indian to win the All England Badminton Championship — had visited Darjeeling to play at the Nripendra Narayan Bengali Hindu Public Hall. National football teams like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and clubs from Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan used to regularly participate in hill tournaments. 

“Records show that in 1926, the Gymkhana Club had 16 lawn tennis courts,” said Manoj Brahmin, the assistant secretary of the club. 

Roshankant Ghisingh, a resident of Darjeeling who had represented Delhi in the national table tennis tournament in 1989, said: “During our days, we could play table tennis at District Cultural Institute, Buddha Singh Sporting Club, Station Club, Hayden Hall, Nripendra hall and Gymkhana Club. After football, the most popular sport in the hills was table tennis,” he said. 

In the late 1970s, the Gymkhana Club had hosted the junior nationals in table tennis. 

“If we talk about football, the then Darjeeling team (in the late 1970s) could beat heavyweights like Mahindra and Mahindra. We used to be hired to play for teams in Bhutan. In 1982, we were paid Rs 5,000 for a single match in Bhutan. The standards have gone down to such an extent that Darjeeling teams now have to hire players from outside the region,” said Naresh Nath Pradhan, an ex-player. 

The violent Gorkhaland agitation that started in 1986 and the general apathy of the local people have led to a complete death of the sports culture in Darjeeling. 

The bungalow at the nine-hole golf course was burnt down during the agitation. The last contest at the Lebong racecourse was on October 31, 1984. The Brigade of Gurkhas Gold Cup has become erratic and failed to attract national teams after the agitation. 

The place where the golf course was situated has been bulldozed, as the DGHC wanted to set up a helipad. Following concerns from environment organisations, the plan was shelved but the damage has been permanently done. 

During the agitation, paramilitary forces were stationed at the Gymkhana Club and the Nripendra hall. 

“Wherever we go, many old timers still recount the rich sporting legacy of the town. Players from the hills have better physique but they have not been able to shine because of lack of sporting facilities,” said Ghisingh. 

But at a time when everything seems to be lost, the Gymkhana Club has provided a silver lining. 

“We have to revive our lost glory. We have spruced up our tennis court. A tennis tournament will be organised and players from Bhutan, Nepal, Delhi, Bangalore and other parts of the country will be participating in it,” said Madan Subba, the finance co-ordinator of the Gymkhana Club. The tournament to mark the centenary celebrations of the club will start on April 30. 

“We have also submitted a proposal to the state government to set up a mini sporting complex at the club at an estimated cost of Rs 90 lakh,” said Subba. 

“If the project is sanctioned, we will open the facilities for the public at a very nominal rate,” he added. 

The little sport facilities left in the hills are now with the elite educational institutions, but they are out of bounds for the common man. “Many talents are disappearing for no fault of theirs,” said Ghisingh. 

Took to football to get admission into good college: Chhetri

Sunil Chhetri on 'Good Education is Everything' - "The main motive for me was to get a certificate that could get me into a good university". (Reuters)

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA 

April 28, 2010: Only the third Indian footballer to play outside the country, Sunil Chhetri said he took to football only to get entry into a good college and never thought of earning a livelihood out of the game. 

“I never knew I could make a profession out of football. 

I never thought I could make a career out of it. The main motive for me was to get a certificate that could get me into a good university. That was my whole motive. That I could get decent marks in my exams and have the national certificate to get into some good colleges,” said Chhetri who became the first Indian to join a Major League Soccer (MLS) side when he signed for Kansas City Wizards last month. 

Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri glorify India - enough sports & educational facilities in the Hills or smothered by Bengal ?!!

“When I played a youth tournament, I was 16. I came back and Mohun Bagan, one of the major clubs in our country, saw me and signed me. I never knew how much you can earn and what kind of career you can have from soccer. Once I joined Mohun Bagan, I never looked back,” he told the official MLS website. 

Chhetri, the only third Indian after Mohammad Salim and Bhaichung Bhutia to play professional football outside the country, is yet to play in the MLS but has made his KC Wizards debut in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup against the Colorado Rapids. 

He hoped his joining KC Wizards would pave the way for other Indians to play abroad. 

“I think if not MLS and if not Europe, there are a lot of places that players can go and perform. They can still go to Australia, a place like Qatar or Japan where they have great facilities. For football to prosper, the infrastructure is not there (in India). They can at least see how far they can go and where they stand with proper facilities. I hope me coming to MLS is going to pave way for a lot of players to go abroad. 

Sunil Chettri - still enjoys studies ?!!

“There is a lot of talent in our country. But the right nourishment at the right age is what we lack in our country. 

The kind of infrastructure, I can really say it’s poor. I don’t think there is any scarcity of talent. But we lack the infrastructure and facilities that players need to develop.” 

Talking about his earlier trials at Coventry City and Queens Park Rangers, both English Championship sides, Chhetri said, “I was called by Coventry in January 2007, but my club East Bengal didn’t release me. They released me on 28th, and 31st was the transfer deadline in England. I was there for three days but things didn’t work out.” 

“Then I had something with QPR. Everything was done. We signed the deal. But the FA didn’t allow me because my country didn’t qualify in the first 70 of the FIFA rankings. In the Championship in England, there is a rule that your country has to be 70 or better in the rankings,” said the Delhi lad. 

Sunil Chettri Cheers - 'Pride and Inspiration' for upcoming Darjeeling Generations ?!!

Asked about differences between MLS and the I-League, Chhetri said, “There is more pace here (in MLS). The speed of the game is much faster than what we have in our country. It’s much more physical than what we have. I think those two departments are the things that are very different from our country and MLS.” 

Football ran in Chhetri’s blood as both his parents played the game, his mother a Nepali international. 

“My mother and father were both natural soccer players. I didn’t have to work hard (to have the knowledge of football). 

I think I already had that in me. My mother was playing for Nepal in her very early years, but then she got married and she had to quit. My mother and her twin sister used to play for Nepal,” he said. 

Chhetri said adapting to American climate was a problem for him when he landed in the United States but he had adjusted now. 

Sunil Chettri in Action - The next Maradona of International Football ?!!

“I think initially when I came, it was difficult because of the 12-hour gap and the kind of climate because it was quite cold when I came here. Now it’s quite a bit warmer,” he said. 

“The only thing for me now is to settle down, do my best in the training and try to improve. I need to catch up on some things. I need to understand players, which is very important, and how exactly they play and their mentality. Its going to take time. 

“My teammates have been very kind to me. The coaches have all been very kind, and I think there is a healthy atmosphere to learn. Whatever happens in the future, I am just going to enjoy my time here.” 

BOXING: Thapa leads charge, four boxers advance

Shiva Thapa in Action - takes more than guts ?!!

From Yahoo News
Thu, Apr 29 04:44 AM 

Indian boxers Shiva Thapa (54kg) and J Bhaskar (51kg) kept the Indian flag high as they registered contrasting wins to advance into the pre-quarterfinals of the World Youth Championship being held in Baku, Azerbaijan on Wednesday. 

Playing an attacking game, Shiva ended the challenge of England’s Qais Dad Ashfaq with a 4-1 win while Bhaskar out-punched Iran’s Armin Amjadian 12-4 to enter the pre-quarterfinals. 

Both the boxers are just two wins away from not only securing a medal but also booking a berth in the World Youth Olympic Games in Singapore to be held in August-September. Earlier on Tuesday night, Asian youth champion Naveen Kumar outclassed Serbia’s Boris Skapik. 

Naveen will take on local favourite Vatan Huseynli on Thursday. However, it was the end of the championship for Asian youth silver medalist Devendro Singh Laishram who suffered a stunning 4-8 defeat against Naoya Ique of Japan in the light fly weight (48kg) in the second round of the championship. 

Devendro, who was the first boxer to take the ring for India on Wednesday, was tied 1-1 with his rival in the first round but Ique dominated the next two rounds to notch up a comfortable victory. 

In the second bout, Bhaskar dominated the proceedings right from the start of the bout and took a 6-1 lead in the opening round of the championship. He widened the gap in the next two rounds. 

After leading by 9-2 at the end of first two rounds, Bhaskar added three more points to his tally in the final round to seal the bout in his favour. Bhaskar will now face Algeria’s Reda Benbaziz in the third round, who defeated Czech Dusan Chromy in his second-round bout. Shiva’s bout was a close affair in the beginning. 

Shiva Thapa - pride of the Indian Gorkhas ?!!

The Assamese (Gorkha) teen was locked 1-1 with Ashfaq in the first three minutes but that was to be the only time he allowed his rival to connect a scoring punch. The counter-puncher, who got a bye in the first round, made it 3-1 in the second round before closing it with just one point in the last three minutes. 

Shiva, India’s first gold medallist at the prestigious Hyder Aliyev Cup for juniors, will now face Swede Rejen Raza Abdulrahman. In another bout, India’s Vikas Krishan thrashed Slovakia’s Rajcsanyi Patrik 7-0 in 60kg category.

Prashant Tamang shoots at MG Marg with actress Harsika Srestha. (Photo by Prabin Khaling)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH
BY BIJOY GURUNG

Gangtok, April 28: Gorkhaland is a must for Indian Gorkhas, Prashant Tamang said, although he thinks that the renewed statehood movement in the Darjeeling hills should not be credited to him.

At a time when his co-finalist and close friend Meiyang Chang is ready to hit the silver screen with the Sahid Kapoor starrer Badmaash Company next month, the Indian Idol 3 winner is about to complete his second Nepali feature film, though of a much lesser budget and reach.

But as Tamang, a Calcutta Police constable, puts it, he is taking life step by step.

“I am taking life step by step and everything will happen in a gradual manner. Opportunities and good results will come with patience and hard work,” Tamang told The Telegraph during a shoot at MG Marg here a few days back.

Today Tamang was in Majitar, 36km from Gangtok and one of the many locales in Sikkim where Angalo Yo Maya Ko, the Nepali feature film, is being shot. Almost 90 per cent shooting has been completed, said Kathmandu-based director Vinod Sereng.

The film has a budget of around Rs 30-35 lakh, said the director. Tamang is playing the lead role besides singing a couple of tracks in the film including the title song. His character is a spoilt brat who later turns into a new leaf.

“This is my second film, and my first, Gorkha Paltan, is scheduled to be released in Kathmandu in April-May,” said Tamang, who is keen on Bollywood. “It is not easy but I will not stop dreaming, and will continue trying to get into Bollywood,” he said.

Asked about his experience after Indian Idol 3, Tamang said he had kept himself busy with film projects and shows. “I was mostly engaged in shootings and there are two-three more projects (in the anvil) but I have not finalised them yet,” he said.

“The most important thing for me is to continue getting the same love that I had received from the people earlier,” said Tamang, who visits Darjeeling frequently, but does not hold many shows there. “However, I have a show in Mirik.”

The Idol-turned-film hero does not shy away from talking about Gorkhaland. He, however, said the statehood movement should not be credited to him.

“There was great unity among the hill people during my Indian Idol challenge and such unity should be maintained to take the movement ahead,” he said. “Gorkhaland is must for the identity of the Indian Gorkhas…Everyone knows about the Indian Gorkhas, the only thing needed is to strengthen our identity.”

In 2007, the Morcha was born after its president Bimal Gurung cashed in on the strong anti-Subash Ghisingh sentiment that swept through the Darjeeling hills during the campaign launched to help Tamang win Indian Idol 3. The GNLF chief had refused to publicly back Tamang even as the entire Gorkha community in Bengal and across the country put its collective might behind the singer from Darjeeling.

Since then, political equations have changed. In 2007, Gurung and his supporters had shouted pro-Pawan Chamling slogans much to Ghisingh’s chagrin. Three years later, the Morcha supporters are no longer eulogising the Sikkim chief minister, but accusing him of doing little to help the outfit attain Gorkhaland.

But does Tamang, still consider Sikkim his second home? “No. Rather, both Sikkim and Darjeeling are my only homes,” Tamang said.

Director Sereng complimented Tamang’s acting skills. “We hope to wrap up the shooting by the second week of May,” said Sereng.

The director said the film was shot in various parts of Sikkim like Aritar, Namchi and Rabongla, besides Gangtok, Majitar. He said it would be released in September with the premiere in Gangtok. Most of the cast in the film are from Sikkim and Darjeeling.

The bison that strayed into the Dhumchipara tea estate on Tuesday. (Photo by Anirban Choudhury)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Alipurduar, April 28: The management of the Dhumchipara tea estate has sent an SOS to the forest department to keep at bay wild animals which have been straying into the garden and hampering work for the past one month.

D.K. Arora, the manager of the estate, said labourers could not finish their full complement of plucking, as they were reluctant to work in sections of the garden where wild animals had been seen.

“In the past one month, quarters of 20 workers have been destroyed by wild elephants and five workers have been mauled by two leopards. Yesterday, a bison created such a panic that the workers who had began plucking tea leaves ran away,” Arora said.

Foresters steered the animal towards the Lankapara forest by bursting crackers. No one was, however, injured by the bison, which kept charging at the crowd that had gathered around it.

Following the leopard attacks on the workers during the past week — the last incident being on Friday — the forest department set up trap door squeeze cages in the garden. However, no big cats have been caught yet. Since then, a group of forest guards from Madarihat has been patrolling the area daily.

The manager said he had asked the foresters to send a team of experts to study and suggest ways to stop the regular incursions by wild animals. “If we cannot complete the plucking of tea leaves, the quality of tea deteriorates.”

Considering the fact that the leopard could not be caught despite laying a cage and the bison took a long time to be driven away, Arora told the forest officials that their men were “ill-equipped” to tackle this kind of situations.

The tea estate, about 14km from NH31C, is surrounded by the Dhumchi forest, which is almost adjacent to Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary on one side and the Lankapara forest on the other. Lankapara is contiguous to the forests of Bhutan.

The divisional forest officer of the wildlife III division, Om Prakash, said steps had been taken to control the straying animals in Dhumchipara.

“We have already posted an elephant squad to prevent the entry of wild elephants and cages have been set up for leopards. They have live goats tied inside as baits. However, no leopard has taken the bait,” the divisional forest officer said.

He said he would speak to the garden authorities and listen to their suggestions if they had any. “We will also go to the garden and tell the workers what steps to take when wild animals enter,” Om Prakash said.

A cart abandoned by its driver after the boy was run over by the one leading the convoy. (Photo by Gour Sharma)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Durgapur, April 28: A bullock cart laden with smuggled coal crushed to death a boy cycling home from school in Asansol’s Jamuria, triggering a road rage in which tonnes of coal and a police jeep were torched this morning.

Stones hurled by villagers left three policemen injured and at least seven protesters were hurt when the cops retaliated with their batons.

Illegal mining is rampant in the area and serpentine bullock cart convoys carrying smuggled coal ply through village roads all day after racketeers pay police for looking the other way.

The Telegraph had carried a series of articles exposing the rampant looting of coal in this belt. The villagers’ outburst today was fuelled by the ire against the police for their inaction on the racketeers.

Eleven-year-old Mohammad Ershad Rejjak was trying to overtake a convoy of five bullock carts around 11.30am when one of them changed direction and dashed against his cycle. “He fell in front of the wheels and was crushed to death instantly by the massive weight of the cart,” said Asgar Ali, a resident of Pariharpur who was resting under a tree when the mishap took place. A coal-laden bullock cart weighs up to 1.5 tonnes.

As the word spread, people came rushing. The cart drivers fled. The villagers unhitched the animals, toppled the carts and set them afire. Some of them also looted the coal.

As the police reached, the mob hurled bricks and coal at them. Outnumbered, the cops ran away, leaving the jeep behind. The villagers overturned the jeep and set it on fire.

“We are scared to leave our children on roads as the coal-laden carts ply round the clock. Instead of stopping the menace, the police collect bribes from the coal racketeers,” said Sheikh Bablu, a day labourer.

About 60 lakh tonnes of coal are allegedly mined illegally from the area every year. They feed hundreds of sponge iron and steel mills in Bengal and neighbouring Jharkhand.

Riaz Ansari, a day labourer, said Ershad was his only son. “I was working in the field when I heard shouts from nearby. I rushed there and saw a crowd surrounding a group of bullock carts. I took a closer look and saw my son lying dead,” said the sobbing father.

A large force led by Jamuria officer-in-charge Saikat Roy resorted to the lathicharge and allegedly fired in the air to disperse the mob. The police denied the firing and also the charge of supporting the illegal mining.

2 workers dead, Malda kilns flout HC order

Local people at the brick kiln at Bagbari after the accident. (Photo by Surajit Roy)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Malda, April 28: Two women were killed and a 40-year-old man was injured when a pile of bricks came tumbling on them while they were working in a kiln at Bagbari near here this morning.

According to police, kiln manager Yugal Kishor Tiklawala, supervisor Dilip Mukherjee and fire-in-charge of the kiln Brinda Sharif Yadav have been arrested after the accident.

A heap of bricks came crashing on the labourers while they were arranging baked bricks around 8am.

The deceased were Shila Mondal, 45, and Majera Bibi, 42.

Jallu Sheikh has been admitted to the district hospital.

Secretary of the Malda District Mango Traders’ Association Subodh Mishra alleged that brick kilns in the district were flouting the guidelines laid down by the high court.

“This is the season for mango and most of the kilns are by the side of the orchards. Smoke billowing out of the chimneys of the kilns cause immense damage to the fruits and the trees,” he said. The Bagbari kiln, too, is surrounded by mango orchards.

According to Mishra, the high court had passed an order in February 2009, which said kilns close to mango orchards should be closed for three months from March.

But, almost all such kilns in the district are open during these three months.

“We have brought the matter to the notice of the district land and land reforms department which issues licences to the kilns. A copy of the high court order is also lying with the department. But the authorities ignore it,” Mishra alleged. The deputy director of District Mango Development and Horticulture Department Goutam Roy said: “We have written to the department many times. But they are least bothered.”

Land and land reforms officer of the district Khagendranath Deu said all the kilns had been asked to remain shut from March to May. “It is the job of the police to see if the orders were being followed. We are not supposed to chase the kiln owners with lathis,” said Deu .

District superintendent of police Bhuban Mondal said: “It is the responsibility of the land reforms department to ensure that the kilns are closed for the specified period. If the department seeks our help to implement the orders, we shall extend our help.”

Amit Chatterjee, the owner of the kiln at Bagbari who is also the president of the District Brickfield Owners’ Association, said the next of the kin of the deceased would be given compensation.

A house destroyed in the April 13 storm at Suron village in Itahar block. (Photo by Nantu Dey)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Raiganj, April 28: The North Dinajpur district administration has been left embarrassed as the report it has handed over to the governor on the damage caused by the April 13 storm and the details of the relief given to the affected people is incomplete and contains factual errors.

The district authorities have now embarked on an exercise to clear the errors and submit a correct picture of the devastation before queries start pouring in from the Raj Bhavan.

After visiting two villages in the least-affected Hemtabad block on April 26, governor M.K. Narayanan had sat with district officials and discussed the relief operations. He was handed the 11-page report that contained a map depicting the path of the tornado-like storm and the damage it had unleashed.

The storm had killed 43 people and flattened thousands of houses in the district.

An earthen shelf to store paddy is what remains of a hut at Suron. (Photo by Nantu Dey)

On Page 3 of the report, a copy of which is with The Telegraph, it has been mentioned that the storm left a trail of severe destruction in the four blocks of Raiganj, Karandighi, Hemtabad and Kaliaganj. The report also speaks about damage caused in Goalpokhar II, but is mum on the number of houses flattened in the Itahar block.

The report maintains that in Karandighi block, 26,000 huts had been damaged totally or partially and 29,330 tarpaulin sheets were distributed, far in excess of the actual number of families rendered homeless.

The Congress karmadhakshya in charge of relief in the Karandighi panchayat samiti, Karuna Dasgupta, said all the 13 gram panchayats in the block had been totally affected.

“About 60,000 huts had been flattened in the block, but a far less figure was put in the report. The report shows that tarpaulin sheets delivered to the block were far more than the required number, implying that the panchayats have stolen around 3,000 of them,” she said.

During Narayanan’s visit, only a few people who had been distributed relief were allowed to meet him, leaving most of the affected villagers fuming.

The people of the worst-affected Raiganj and Karandighi blocks, where 19 people had been killed, were kept away from the governor.

Governor MK Narayanan on a disaster relief fact finding tour with BL Meena and KL Tamta ?!!

They were denied audience with Narayanan, apparently to cover up the administration’s failure to provide succour to the people who had been made to spend days under the open sky after the calamity.

Tension had run high at the block and panchayat offices in Karandighi, Hemtabad and Raiganj after the storm. Relief-seekers tried to snatch tarpaulin sheets to make some sort of shelter.

On April 19, villagers attacked policemen in front of the Sitgram gram panchayat office where they had gathered to collect tarpaulin sheets. The police fired in the air and burst tear gas shells when three of their men were badly injured in the attack.

Sources in the district administration said the violence, a result of the pent-up anger of the people, had forced the authorities to arrange for a safe route for the governor.

The Congress targeted the district administration for the latest episode in a series of botches made by the officials after the storm.

“The officials had not toured the areas before compiling the data and gave wrong figures to hide their inefficiency. We demand that they prepare a fresh report showing the ground reality and send it to the governor,” said Dasgupta.

The state civil defence minister, Srikumar Mukherjee, who had been monitoring the situation in the affected areas, expressed his surprise at the errors in the report. “I am surprised at the report which mentions that no houses have been damaged in Itahar block. I cannot say how this report was prepared,” said the CPI minister.

The district magistrate, Sunil Dandapat, said the report had been “drawn up in haste”. “We had collected the data from the panchayat level and prepared the report. Some errors have crept in, but we are presently trying to rectify them as fast as possible.”

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao with party leaders, including Congress Legislature Party leaders address a joint press conference, in Hyderabad.

Source: IANS 

Hyderabad, April 28, 2010: On the occasion of its ninth anniversary Wednesday, the Telangana  Rashtra Samiti (TRS) once again warned of civil war if Telangana was not made a separate state soon. 

Unfazed by the criticism from other parties and even demands for booking him for sedition, TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao said civil war would be inevitable if Telangana state was not carved out. 

Addressing a gathering of hundreds of party workers here Wednesday evening, Rao dismissed speculations that the TRS would merge with the Congress party. 

He declared that the TRS would remain as a separate entity even after formation of Telangana state and that it would not have an alliance with any party in future.  

Student supporters of Telangana during a candle light protest to press their demands for the creation of a separate Telenagana state, at Telengana Memorial, in Hyderabad.

“Some people are calling me traitor and demanding that the TRS be derecognized. This for raising voice against injustices to four crore people of Telangana. Are those who snatched our water resources and jobs not traitors?” asked the Mahabubnagar MP. 

KCR, as Rao is popularly known by initials of his name, said people would teach a lesson to the parties that want to field candidates against the TRS in assembly by-elections. 

Bypolls to 10 assembly seats, which fell vacant following resignations by TRS legislators over Telangana issue, are likely to be held in August this year. 

Earlier, TRS ideologue K. Jayashankar said war-like situation would be inevitable if the Srikrishna Committee failed to give a report in line with the aspirations of Telangana people. 

Addressing the anniversary celebrations of the party here, he said the panel formed by the central government to look into the issue was the last hope for people demanding a separate state of Telangana. 

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) supporters shouting slogans during a strike in Hyderabad on Monday.

“If Telangana state is not formed even after the Srikrishna  Committee submits its report, struggle will be the only option before the people. We can’t say what will be the shape of this movement,” said the former vice chancellor of the Kakatiya University. 

“People will decide the nature of the movement. They have no options as despite an announcement by the central government in parliament their dream of a separate state has not been fulfilled,” he said. 

The five-member committee formed by the central government in February is currently holding consultations with all stake holders. The panel headed by former Supreme Court Justice B.N. Srikrishna has been given time till Dec 31 to submit its report. 

The TRS is celebrating its formation day at a time when the Srikrishna Committee is engaged in consultations over Telangana issue. The party conclave, attended by delegates from all 10 districts of the region, including Hyderabad, also reviewed the developments of last six months. 

Supporters of Telangana damaging a bus during a protest to press their demands for the creation of a separate state.

It was KCR’s fast-unto-death in November-December last year which intensified the movement for Telangana state. Rao called off his fast after 11 days Dec 9 when the central government announced that the process for formation of Telangana state would be initiated. 

However, the statement by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram  plunged  Andhra Pradesh into crisis with massive protests in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. Mass resignations by public representatives and street protests forced the central government to backtrack and it decided to hold consultations with all the stakeholders. 

Police marching past Osmania University campus during a strike in Hyderabad.

All 10 state legislators of TRS resigned en masse after the central government made a second statement Dec 23. However, legislators from other parties refused to follow the TRS line. 

TRS, which initially opposed formation of the Srikrishna Committee, later submitted a memorandum to it and also put forward its arguments in favour of a separate Telangana state. 

It was on this day in 2001 that KCR had quit Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and floated TRS to revive the three-decade old movement for a separate Telangana state. 

Over 300 people were killed in police firing during violent protests for Telangana in early 1970s. 

NSG told to get land on its own – strange request ?!! 

NSG Emblem

FROM THE TELEGRAPH STAFF REPORTER 

Calcutta, April 28: The National Security Guard has been told to procure the land if it wants a 600-acre training facility in Dankuni, about 20km northwest of Calcutta. 

NSG director-general N.P.S. Aulakh met state home secretary Ardhendu Sen today to discuss the possibilities of finalising the Dankuni training facility. 

“I surveyed the location today where we’d like the training hub to come up,” Aulakh said after the 40-minute meeting at Writers’ Buildings. 

However, the state made it clear that it couldn’t be expected to acquire the land for the force. Dankuni is only about 20km from Singur, where the state has burnt its fingers once. “They (the NSG) would like the training hub to come up at Dankuni. They need 600 acres for the purpose. They would (have to) purchase the land directly,” Sen said. 

NSG in action

The training unit will replicate the facilities at the NSG’s Manesar training centre. “Together with the hub (at Kaikhali near Calcutta airport), it would significantly reduce the response time in case of a terror strike,” Aulakh said. 

The Centre had decided to set up four regional hubs — in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Calcutta — after 26/11, when commandos took nine hours to reach the scene of action from their lone centre in Delhi. 

The Kaikhali hub, with about 250 commandos, was operationalised on July 1 last year.

A Writers’ Buildings gate locked during Tuesday’s bandh (Photo by Gopal Senapati)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH
BY ASHIS CHAKRABARTI

Calcutta, April 28: As he walked down an empty Writers’ Buildings corridor to his office yesterday, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee presented a bizarre picture — of a chief executive presiding over a vanished job.

Still more bizarre was the fact that his own comrades took the job away from him. The image that captured it best was that of the lock that the members of the co-ordination committee of government employees, an affiliate of the CPM, had put at the secretariat gate.

Gone were his Do-It-Now cry and his big-bang industrialisation crusade. All he seemed to have been left with was the coming end with a whimper, symbolised in his attending office but having no work to do.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee - betrayed by comrades, so quickly ?!!

If Bhattacharjee found his government had withered away even while he was still in office, it was as much his party’s fault as his own.

Soon after he led the Left Front to a resounding victory in 2006 on his aggressive development campaign, the chief minister seemed to know where his real challenge lay. It was not so much Mamata Banerjee, who was demoralised after a humiliating election defeat; the biggest challenge for him was to break the shackles of his party and its politics of coercion.

In private conversations, he singled out militant party colleagues, especially leaders of Citu, and the party’s education cabals, as the biggest enemies of promise. Industrialisation and higher education were two areas he seemed to have identified for his major offensive. If Citu was the main hurdle in industrialisation, party control was the bane of higher education, he would confide to circles close to him.

Citu's debilitating culture of violence and bandhs ?!!

He may have identified the enemies but showed little stamina in fighting them. The result was written all over Bengal yesterday when Citu took the lead in forcing the bandh. For those who have watched CPM-sponsored strikes in Bengal for over four decades, the most remarkable thing about yesterday’s show was the ubiquitous presence of Citu on the street.

If any further proof were needed to know that the chief minister had lost his battle with Citu, it was there all over the state yesterday.

CPM leaders privately argue that they needed to make the bandh a “success” in order to re-activate party cadres ahead of the coming elections to 81 municipalities in the state. It would be the party’s last trial of strength before next year’s Assembly polls.

If yesterday’s show was more aggressive than recent Left-organised strikes, it was because the party wanted to tell the cadres that offence was not just the best but the only defence for the beleaguered party.

For its sympathisers and the people at large, the message of the bandh was that the party was still alive and kicking.

In all this, though, the party’s voice — and not the chief minister’s — rang aloud. This bandh may have served as the final proof that Bhattacharjee has finally and irretrievably lost himself in his party. He continues to be the chief minister, but he stays only that — sans development, sans industrialisation and sans any work that he wanted to make his own.

Presidency University

One last thing carries the stamp of his earlier ambition — the Presidency University bill. He has resisted the pressures of CPM-affiliated government college teachers in order to push it.

On the eve of the 2006 Assembly elections, he spoke of his wish to see that at least five colleges are given autonomous status — which would free them from the control of his party’s education clique.

(As for Presidency College, he even mentioned one teacher, who was a CPM leader, by name, who, he said, “runs the college”.)

But the recent electoral reverses have forced Bhattacharjee to surrender back to the party. For all his bold wishes, he made too many promises with the party, allowing it to eventually thwart his agenda. It may have all begun with the chief minister failing to stand up against the party diktat on the choice of his cabinet in 2006.

Even in the best of times, he failed to tell the party that the government was his — and not its — business.

If Bhattacharjee is receding into the party’s shadows now, he had sowed the seeds by not defying it enough.

Left changes election tack – Politics focus, not civic score

The Vande Maataram shift ?!!

FROM THE TELEGRAPH SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, April 28: The Left Front will rely less on civic issues and more on price rise, unemployment and the “Maoist-Mamata nexus” for the municipal polls because of their political significance before next year’s Assembly elections.

Releasing the front manifesto, chairman Biman Bose today described the May 30 civic polls as a “political struggle” and laid stress on a “political campaign” against the Centre’s “anti-people policies”.

In a recent closed-door workshop to fine-tune strategies for the campaign, industries minister and CPM politburo member Nirupam Sen is learnt to have referred to last year’s Siliguri Municipal Corporation polls to point out that the Left lost the board despite good civic work.

“This result underlined the changes in the overall political mood and we have to fight it politically by keeping tab on the people’s pulse,” a CPM state secretariat member said.

The CPM and its allies find price rise a potent plank to regain its lost ground among urban poor and middle classes, especially after what they dub the “success” of yesterday’s general strike.

“We will tell the people how the central policies will only add to the woes of the aam admi, already reeling under staggering price rise. The price index… will go up further before the polls in May,’’ said Bose, also the state CPM secretary.

Mamata Banerjee in the firing line ?!!

As the front is also trying to woo job-seeking urban youths, many of whom are new voters, Bose accused the central departments, particularly the railways headed by Mamata Banerjee, of refusing to provide jobs “despite lakhs of vacancies”.

For the urban poor, the manifesto harped on the “pro-poor policies” of Left-run civic bodies.

The new sops include a 99-year land lease to those living on government land for more than 20 years, apartments for slum-dwellers and policies to regularise street vendors.

While the CPM and its allies will train their guns on Trinamul for its “anti-development role and politics of anarchy in connivance with Maoists”, Bose said, the Congress will be their principal adversary in districts like Malda and Murshidabad.

Asked about the absence of BJP bashing in the manifesto, Bose denied its relation to the CPM’s growing floor co-ordination with the party. “The manifesto deals with the civic polls in Bengal and not in Jharkhand (where the BJP is a major force),’’ he said. While stressing repeatedly on the “political significance” of the civic polls, Bose also admitted that they were meant to improve civic amenities.

Left throws in the towel on Trinamul turf – Absent in 50% wards

The drastic dip ?!!

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Tamluk, April 28: Practically wiped out from large parts of East Midnapore since the Nandigram episode, the Left Front has been unable to field candidates in 50 per cent of the seats in Tamluk and Contai municipalities.

Of the 40 total seats in the two municipalities, the front has fielded candidates in 19. In the 20-seat civic body in Tamluk, the front has candidates in 11. In Contai, it will contest eight of the 20 seats.

In 2005, the front had contested 16 wards in Tamluk and all 20 in Contai.

The number of CPM candidates in the fray has come down to 10 from 20 in the two municipalities. The nine other seats the front is contesting have been divided among the CPI (5), West Bengal Socialist Party (2), RSP (1) and the Forward Bloc (1).

Although the ruling front has lost ground in many parts of the state, particularly in south Bengal, East Midnapore, perhaps, represents the worst-case scenario.

This is the first time the front is fielding so few candidates in any municipal poll in the district in the three decades of its rule in Bengal.

“We had trailed in all the wards in these two (Tamluk and Contai) municipalities during the Lok Sabha polls last May. We had also trailed in all the wards of Contai during the bypoll to the Contai (South) Assembly seat last November. So, this time, we have fiel-ded candidates only in those wards where we have the possibility of winning,” said Ashok Guria, a CPM district secretariat member.

An East Midnapore CPM leader admitted that they were giving up without a fight. “We have no other option. We are being force to give up without a fight because we have lost our support base heavily across the district.”

The front had trailed heavily in hundreds of municipal wards across the state in the Lok Sabha polls. For instance, in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, front candidates lagged behind Opposition nominees in 119 of the 141 wards.

Asked why the alliance cannot contest all the wards in Tamluk when it can do so in Calcutta, the front leaders of East Midnapore were evasive.

“The decision to field municipal candidates is taken at the local level. We are not con-cerned about what is happening in other places. We have decided to field candidates in 19 wards and we might offer support to some Independent candidates,” said Kanu Sahu, district CPM secretary and front convener.

Although Contai municipality has been under Trinamul control for the past 10 years, the Left had snatched Tamluk from Mamata Banerjee’s party in 2005.

After Trinamul swept the panchayat polls in 2008, seve- ral Left councillors, including one from the CPM, switched to Trinamul, leading to a collapse of the board. Mamata’s party is now running the board after winning a vote of confidence.

Tamluk’s Trinamul MP Subhendu Adhikari said the people had rejected the front in East Midnapore after the Nandigram movement against land acquisition. “This rejection was reflected in the panchayat and Lok Sabha polls. The Left Front will also be rejected in the municipal polls,” Adhikari said.

Mamata list, 25 for Cong

TMC Gen Sec Partha Chatterjee after releasing the list. (Photo by Anindya Shankar Ray)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, April 28: The Trinamul Congress tonight announced candidates for 115 of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation’s 141 wards, leaving 25 for the Congress and one for the SUCI.

Stunned by the sudden announcement, at a time discussions were on over their demand for 51 wards, Congress leaders called it a “one-sided” decision and sent an SOS seeking state party chief Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention.

“This is a one-sided decision by our ally and unacceptable, which is why we have sought Pranabbabu’s intervention,” said central Calcutta Congress president Pradip Ghosh, who had been overseeing the seat-sharing talks. “We have also sent Pranabbabu a list of 83 wards where we are confident of winning on our own. But the final decision rests with Pranabbabu.”

State Congress working president Pradip Bhattacharya refused comment.

While releasing the Trinamul list, party secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said it was the final one. “We have waited and discussed at length at Mamata’s level and all issues had been taken up,” Chatterjee said.

“Since the last date for filing nominations, May 3, is approaching, we have decided to announce the final list. We have already offered 25 seats to the Congress. Keeping Mamata Banerjee at the helm, we must ride this wave of change and keep a united front. There should be no straining of relationship (with the Congress) and keeping the honour and faith of the people we should jointly defeat the Left Front. We hope good sense will prevail and the Congress will join us in defeating the Left Front.”

Today’s list did not name a candidate for mayor, but party sources said the scales were tipped in favour of councillor and Ballygunge MLA Javed Khan.

“The announcement of the mayoral candidate has been kept in abeyance,” Chatterjee said. “Let us first win the polls… then we will decide who will be the mayor.”

Of the 115 candidates, 50 are women and 23 from the minority community, including Rizwanur Rahman’s brother Rukbanur. The list includes another MLA, Firad (Bobby) Hakim, and former mayor-in-council member Sovan Chatterjee.