Blaze fuels fire fears in hill town

Darjeeling, March 16: Three families were left without a roof over their head after flames licked a building in Pragati Gram here today while firemen watched helplessly from 500 metres away, their vehicle stuck on the narrow roads of the tinderbox town.

Residents of the area said the blaze appeared to have started from the locked house of Rajen Pradhan around 7am, before spreading to the sections of the building occupied by the families of Md Firoz Khan and Tika Sarki.

The fire brigade got delayed, as it had to travel 3km along NH55, crowded even at that time of the day. Then the fire tender got stuck on P.G. Gurung Road, half-a-kilometre from the site of the fire.

The residents had to douse the flames with whatever little water was available in the area. The fire tender finally managed to get closer to building, but by that time the fire had been brought under control.

The fire fighters were at the receiving end of a fair deal of abusive language from the residents and the situation could have turned ugly, but for the presence of police.

The incident has once again illustrated how vulnerable Darjeeling is to fires, especially since 70 per cent of the town is inaccessible to fire tenders.

“Similar incidents can happen again. The roads have to be widened. A sub-station with smaller vehicles must be kept in town area there should be proper supply of water everywhere,” said D.B. Gurung, the president of the local residents’ committee.

Before Independence, the British had set up almost 100 odd fire hydrants across the town, even though Darjeeling’s population was less than half of what it is today. Currently, less than 10 of those hydrants can be seen and it is not known whether all of them are functional.

The roads, too, have been encroached upon. A couple of years ago, after a fire broke out below Ava Art Gallery, the Darjeeling Municipality had tried to drive a fire-tender through the approach road to the place and see where it stopped and thus identify the encroachments.

However, with the fire tender having to stop at every bend, the municipality realised that it would not be possible to pull down all the illegal structure. [The Telegraph]

Border with Nepal, Bhutan to be closed

Siliguri, March 16: Two separate meetings involving district-level officials of India, Nepal and Bhutan were held today in view of elections in the neighbouring countries.

It was decided at the meetings — held at Blue Mountain club in Salbari — to seal off India’s border with Nepal from April 8 to 10 and that of Bhutan from March 23 to 25. While Nepal goes to polls on April 10, Bhutanese people will exercise their franchise on March 24.

The first meeting was attended by Rajesh Pandey (the district magistrate of Darjeeling), Rahul Shrivastava and Tripurari, the police superintendents of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri respectively and the chief district officers of Jhapa, Ilam and Pasthar — three eastern districts. Shankar Prasad Koirala, the chief district officer (CDO) of Jhapa, led the Nepal delegation.

The 11-member Bhutan delegation was led by Sangay Dorjee, the district magistrate of Samsi district.

“We have discussed issues like encroachment on no-man’s land and cross-border terrorism,” said Koirala. “We have requested the Darjeeling district administration to hold such meetings at least once or twice a month for exchanging views.”

“We have discussed several border-related issues and agreed to exchange information frequently so that it would be easier for both the countries to check crimes and smuggling through the border,” said Pandey.

The Bhutan delegates requested the Darjeeling administration to take necessary measures to prevent the Bhutanese refugees from entering the kingdom through the Indo-Nepal border.

Pandey assured them that necessary steps would be taken to curb the influx of refugees. [The Telegraph]

Ghisingh slips in, hills unaware – Edward Resigns!

Darjeeling, March 16: Subash Ghisingh, who once lorded over the Darjeeling hills, today sneaked into a town draped in the green-white-yellow flags of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and almost completely unaware of the GNLF chief’s arrival.

There were no supporters to greet him nor any protesters blocking his route. No GNLF leader was in sight when two Ambassadors, accompanied by four security vehicles, came to a screeching halt before one of them (WB-77/3686) trundled uphill to stop in front of the GNLF chief’s house at Dr Zakir Hussian Road.

Moments later, Ghisingh who seemed to have lost weight, stepped out of his vehicle and — unlike earlier times — waved to the reporters. “I cannot speak, I have got a sore throat,” he said.

“I have met you today, but I will call you in the next few days but not tomorrow,” the GNLF chief told the reporters, who insisted that he say something about the political situation in the hills.

With security personnel abuzz, a few local people came out of their houses for a glimpse of the leader but by then he had already gone inside.

Ghisingh, who left the rest house owned by the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited at Second Mile in Siliguri at 12.30pm, reached Darjeeling around 2.25 in the afternoon. His son Mohan was in a private car behind the cavalcade.

With the GNLF chief inside, the attendants got busy shifting the luggage from the boot of the car. A brown leather bag was also taken from the backseat of the car in which he had travelled.

It was then that S.K. Lama, the GNLF president of Rimbick Lodhama, area was spotted. He seemed to have come in a hurry as he was still in his slippers. Asked if he knew about Ghisingh’s arrival, Lama replied in the negative. “Let’s see if I can meet him,” he said.

Since the Morcha had said it would not stop his entry to the Darjeeling hills once he resigned as caretaker administrator of the DGHC, there were no protests on NH55 through which Ghisingh’s cavalcade had travelled from Siliguri.

“We have nothing to do with Ghisingh,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha.

Ghisingh had left Darjeeling on February 6 when his party still had some control over the hills. The GNLF chief had believed that the Morcha-led protest against the Sixth Schedule bill would end once the special status was granted. However, the bill was shelved and is unlikely to become an act in the recent future. A month and half later, a sight of the GNLF flag fluttering in the hills is rare.

Many of the GNLF leaders have resigned in Ghisingh’s absence, the latest being Ajoy Edwards, the convener of the Gorkha National Youth Front. “I have decided not to register myself with any political party,” said Edwards.

Ghisingh back in Darjeeling

KOLKATA: Subash Ghising on Sunday returned to Darjeeling even as his opponents were making merry on the banks of the Balason at Dudhia in the Kurseong subdivision over his recent resignation as administrator of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).

Shorn of the fanfare of earlier times, his homecoming came 26 days after he was prevented by supporters of his rival Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) from entering the hill town. At that time, they had put up blocks on all roads leading to Darjeeling. The GJM leaders had vowed to prevent him, until he resigned as DGHC administrator, from returning to the hill.

But, this time there were no obstructions to Mr. Ghising’s convoy on its way up to the hills, a district official said. Once it reached the town it made its way straight to his residence.

“Interaction” picnics Over the past few days, there have been celebrations in the hill by GJM workers. There have been picnics, to which thousands of GJM supporters were invited, on the banks of rivers in both the Darjeeling and Kalimpong subdivisions. The one near Kurseong on Sunday was part of the celebrations. These community picnics facilitate “interaction” with the local people, says the GJM leadership.

“Illegal transactions” Mr. Ghising’s return to Darjeeling comes amid reports of a large number of files having been recovered by GJM supporters from DGHC employees. The files had allegedly been smuggled out of Lalkuthi, the DGHC headquarters, a day after his resignation. GJM leaders alleged that the files contained documents on illegal transactions during Mr Ghising’s tenure in the hill council.

The district administration is preparing an inventory of the recovered files and has assured an inquiry. [The Hindu]