Hiking/Trekking – What is it all about?

by Hot Stimulating Treks N Tours (Courtesy) Rumba K

Hiking is a form of walking, undertaken with the specific purpose of exploring and enjoying the scenery. It usually takes place on trails in rural or wilderness areas. [Photo (above): Sun rays striking the peaks of Mount Everest and Makalu as seen from Sandakphu]

The word ‘hiking’ is understood in all English-speaking countries, but there are differences in usage. In some places, off-trail hiking is called ‘cross-country hiking’, ‘bushwalking’, or ‘bushbashing’. In the United Kingdom, hiking is a slightly old-fashioned word, with a flavor more of heartiness and exercise than of enjoying the outdoors. Australians use the term ‘bushwalking’ for both on- and off-trail hiking. New Zealanders use ‘tramping’ (particularly for overnight and longer trips), ‘walking’ or ‘bushwalking’. Hiking in the mountainous regions of India and Nepal is called ‘trekking’. Overnight hiking is called ‘backpacking’ in some parts of the world. Hiking a long-distance trail from end to end is referred to as ‘thru-hiking’ in some places. Since we are based in Darjeeling Hills and offer Hiking Packages in Darjeeling Hills and Sikkim henceforth, we will only used the word Trekking.

Trekking is one of the fundamental outdoor activities on which many others are based. Many beautiful places can only be reached overland by trekking, and enthusiasts regard treking as the best way to see nature. It is seen as better than a tour in a vehicle of any kind (or on an animal; see horseback riding) because the trekker’s senses are not intruded upon by distractions such as windows, engine noise, airborne dust and fellow passengers. Trekking over long distances or over difficult terrain does require some degree of physical ability and knowledge. [Inset: Trekkers making their way through the Mist]

Trekkers often seek beautiful natural environments in which to trek. Ironically, these environments are often fragile: trekkers may accidentally destroy the environment that they enjoy. The action of an individual may not strongly affect the environment. However, the mass effect of a large number of trekkers can degrade the environment. For example, gathering wood in an Himalayan Ecological Area to start a fire may be harmless once (except for wildfire risk). Years of gathering wood, however, can strip a Himalayan area of valuable nutrients.

Can you help me find my mother?

Dear Readers,

I would like to request to help me to find my mother who is missing from May 20, 2008. I am 4 years young and I have 2 elder sisters who are 12 and 7 years. My father is also out of country. I hope you will help me by forwarding this message to your friends etc. who may find her in their locality. She is in India now but we do not know the locations.

HER DETAILS AS: SOME PHOTOGRAPHS OF MY MOM ARE ENCLOSED.
NAME: ANJILA BISTA (GIRI)
AGE : 32
HEIGHT: 5′2″
BODY TYPE: SOME OVER WEIGHT

IF YOU NEED ANY MORE DETAILS ABOUT HER, PLZ LET ME KNOW, I WILL SEND ALL AVAILABLE EVIDENCES BY RETURN.

YOUR KIND ATTENTION AND CONSIDERATION WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Arkesh Giri
G.P.O. Box 8762
Kathhmandu, Nepal.
Tel.: +97715535310
Fax: +97714111612
email: arkeshgiri@yahoo.com

ANJILA BISTA (GIRI) with Arkesh Giri

Delhi Police Womens Helpline numbers

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Darjeeling!

It has been brought our notice by our esteem Patron Miss. Jyoti Thapa Mani that women are having some problems in New Delhi. You could reach out for help from the following numbers.

Pl prefix 011 if calling from mobiles
23411091
23317004
23317004 (1091),
23317003
23491091
23317002

The Himalayan Beacon thanks and appreciates Miss Jyoti Thapa Mani’s initiative in this issue. The Himalayan Beacon also thanks Miss Rashmi Dewan for providing constant support by offering news reports and insights to The Himalayan Beacon. And of course, all the readers, peers and patrons.

Regards

Barun

The Abolition of the monarchy may be the easy part for Nepal’s government

The Fountains were switched on. The water danced. The white-clad military band stood to attention.

And waited. And waited.

After 239 years of rule by the Shah royal dynasty, perhaps it was inevitable that the last few hours of waiting for the monarchy to be abolished and a republic set up should also be long and drawn-out.

When the announcement came, it was greeted with cheers.

Three bombs had gone off earlier in the day Yet all things considered, the decision, momentous as it was, sparked neither bitter complaint nor intense celebration.

Perhaps the long period of violence and uncertainty beforehand had something to do with it.

Nepal has seen a decade long civil war; two postponed elections; a massacre of the royal family; the grabbing of absolute power by the king and the handing back of it again; and most recently, victory in elections by Maoist former guerrillas. Nepalis could be forgiven for being uncertain of what lies in store.

The country’s constituent assembly voted to abolish King Gyanendra’s house by 560 votes to 4. The king’s unpopularity, among assembly members and the ordinary Nepalis who elected them in April, was well earned. In 1990, his brother, King Birendra, bowed to popular demands and became a constitutional monarch, attaining respect and affection as a result.

When the Maoists began their insurrection in the western hills in 1996, getting rid of the crown was not on their agenda. Yet Gyanendra alienated supporters by grabbing dictatorial powers in 2005, only to be forced to hand them back again after a clumsy attempted crackdown turned peaceful protests into nationwide strikes. Most Nepalis believe-without any evidence-that Gyanendra and his unpopular playboy son, Paras, were involved in the royal mas-acre of 2001 when Crown Prince Dipendra killed his immediate family, several other relatives and himself.

Sandakphu! Serene Destination

Trekkers Hut at Sandakphu

Tourist flocks to Chowrasta for entertainment and relaxation

Tourists and Locals gather to enjoy the evening cultural and entertainment programmes at Chowrasta, Darjeeling. Photo by Himalaya Darpan.

Beyond our mountains

The walks around Rabongla are pleasantly cool and so is the pace of life ~ so slow and easy that it’s bound to mollify the rush in you, writes Anirban Das

When we began our journey we were bit apprehensive about Ravangla - whether it would be a place worth visiting! However, after a grueling 17 hours journey from Kolkata, when we reached there, all our apprehensions were gone, with the breathtaking glimpses of sailing clouds and the serene beauty of the place.

Ravangla Town as seen from Singtam

Sleepy little towns sometimes have a lot to reveal, and Ravangla, a slumbering hollow beneath the enormous Maenam Hill is one such place. Its almost 7,000 feet elevation affects some chilliness in the morning air, and the soggy fog and playful mist, a common morning phenomena from late spring till early autumn, seems to harmoniously blend with the terrain of this Himalayan idyll as if Mother Nature herself had procreated such an arrangement. The main road shrouded by the clouds was looking mysterious in the twilight.

Finding a room did not turn out as a showstopper, as hotels were aplenty and tourists were very few in number. Thereafter, we hit a shanty tea-shop to try out momo – the famous Tibetan delicacy. A full plate of veg momo with mouthwatering coriander ‘chutney’ and a glass of cardamom tea was perfect to keep the chill at bay.

Cheat arrested in Siliguri

SILIGURI, June 1: The Siliguri police today arrested a middle-aged person who was allegedly cheating around using forged journalist identity. Named Tufan Subba (35), the man was intercepted by the Siliguri Traffic Police at Airview More this morning, when he was crossing the area in a two-wheeler. “The two-wheeler had the words ‘Press’ and ‘Police Service Samachar’ inscribed on the front and rear. He was also driving without wearing a helmet. We stopped him on the basis of suspicion and when challenged, he failed to produce any valid documents proving his journalist identity,” the DSP Traffic, Mr Chanda said. [The Statesman]

FM channels face revenue crisis

By Pranay Ray

SILIGURI, June 1: In the worlds of entertainment, radio channels have made a tremendous comeback. With the upcoming of the audio-visual media the trend of radio gradually got extinct and the youth of this generation barely had any interest left in it, until it made a flashy comeback through the FM channels in 1999 in several metropolis in India. [Inset: An FM Radio Jockey chats with a colour. Photo source: The Tribune]

Siliguri is not lagging much behind to experience the radio blaze. The radio as a mode of entertainment is trying to have its roots deep into Siliguri. With the onset of AIR FM Rainbow, the radio culture in Siliguri got paced up quite early.

Now Siliguri has many FM Channels, which are in a stiff competition with one another.

They are desperately trying to gain listeners not just from Siliguri, but from the whole region of North Bengal which falls within the radius of 60 to 80 km from Siliguri.

NBSTC seeks hold over tourism drive

COOCH BEHAR, June 1: The subsidy-dependent North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) is trying its best to stand on its own feet with the tourism drive that was initiated three years ago. NBSTC sources said that Dooars in North Bengal is an attractive region to domestic and foreign tourists. Taking advantage of the interest shown over Dooars by tourists the NBSTC is attempting to revive its economic condition too. Two vehicles were kept aside for the tourism service along with a double-decker and two white 28-seaters to meet the growing demand. [An NBSTC Bus Siliguri]

Among the existing seventeen tour packages three earned high popularity with the tourists, NBSTC officials claimed. The first two are : (1) Cooch Behar -Jaldapara -Rocky Island -Lava -Lolegaon -Rickysum -Kalimpong -Cooch Behar (2 nights 3 days) (2) Cooch Behar -Jhalong -Bindu -Jaldapara -Cooch Behar (one-day).  The third favourite is called ‘Ramgua’ originates from Kolkata. It journeys through Kolkata -Chilapata -Rasikbil -Rajabhatkhawa -Boxa -Jainti -Jaldapara -Gorumara -Lataguri -Chapramari -Jhalong -Bindu -Chalsa -Samsing -Rocky Island -Suntalekhola -Gorubathan -Leechkhola -Lava -Lolegaon -Rickysom -Delo -Kalimpong -New Jalpaiguri (7 nights 8 days).

Advisory committee to oversee water project

DARJEELING, June 1: By forming an advisory committee to oversee the progress of the Balasun Drinking Water Project, the state government is probably trying to pacify the irate public of Darjeeling. “The project is progressing very slowly and it may be due to the implementation of obsolete machinery and the pathetic condition of the approach road in the site”, stated MLA Pranay Rai, who is chairman of the recently formed advisory committee.

Negligence of the government is evident from the fact that the project which will supply 2 million gallons of water daily to Darjeeling town and periphery areas was kept on hold for 10 years before being implemented in 2005. The present situation of the Hills has forced the government to put its act together. “Recently about 15 engineers from Kolkata visited the site to make necessary assessments of the project and propose suggestions”, informed Mr Rai.

The committee intended for advising and overseeing the development of the project will submit quarterly reports so that the completion target of November 2009 is met. “So far only 10% of work has been completed. We will work in collaboration with the DGHC, forest department, Municipality, WBSEDCL and the tea gardens so that the completion target is met”, the MLA stated.

Among others the two MP’s from Darjeeling Mr Dawa Narbula and Mr Samant Pathak, the chairman Darjeeling Municipality ~ Mr Pemba Tshering, the joint secretary of WBSEDCL and the DM and SP are the members of the advisory committee.  However, the distribution system in Darjeeling is in dire need of upgradation. Most part of the town is without legal connection and the old pipes need to be replaced. Moreover, the landslides in rainy season poses difficulties as pipes are damaged.

AEZ exports cross Rs 10,000 cr, zeroing in on target

New Delhi, Jun 1 Agri export zones (AEZs), with comparatively lower level of investment than the special economic zones (SEZs), have the potential to boost exports. A recent study of 60 AEZs spread across 20 states conducted by Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) shows AEZs are approaching the cumulative export target.

According to the report by APEDA, AEZs have recorded cumulative exports of Rs 10,685.29 crore up to February 2008 against the target Rs 11,821.47 crore. The investments by the central and state government agencies and by the private sector in the AEZs have not been up to the mark. Against a projection of Rs 1,717.95 crore, the cumulative investment so far has been Rs 1,097.53 crore.

AEZs have been less controversial than SEZs because they have not resulted in a change of land use for industrial and other activities. AEZs are not fixed by physical boundaries like SEZs-they are regions in different states known for growing special crops like gherkins, grapes, special varieties of mango, lichi, potato, pineapples, Darjeeling tea, rose onion, vanilla, flowers, basmati rice, medicinal and aromatic plants, pomegranate, banana, walnut, garlic, spices, duram wheat, lentils & gram, cashew nut, honey, apple, ginger, turmeric, coriander and cumin.

Over the years there have been sporadic efforts at setting up AEZs, with the state governments clamouring for approvals. This had resulted in the setting up of as many as 60 AEZs in 20 states. In most cases the state and central governments have not lived up to their commitments of ensuring adequate infrastructure, and the investment from the private sector has not been to the desired level. The APEDA review, therefore, said, “A package needs to be developed to suggest solutions to these problems and agencies identified to implement these in a given time-frame.”

Ladies club helps out poor students

SILIGURI, June 1: Members of the Siliguri Ladies’ Club distributed text-books among 100 poor and meritorious students of over 40 schools in Siliguri at the Mitra Sammelani Hall here last evening.

Distributing the books, Mrs Gangotri Chakravorty, Head, Department of Law, North Bengal University and the chief guest of the function urged teachers and guardians to develop a spirit of enquiry among children. The function was kicked-off with a cultural programme presented by students of the Sharda Sishutirtha, Sevoke Road. The veteran legal luminary, who echoed the sentiments of Allan Pease, as expressed in her famous book, “Questions Are The Answers”, stressed: “To succeed in life, children must constantly quiz their seniors on various aspects of knowledge.”

The Siliguri Ladies’ Club, which organizes a picnic for handicapped children and a quiz competition for the under-privileged students every year, has been distributing text books to poor and promising students, on the basis of the lists of children provided by the various vernacular-medium schools in the town, for the last 25 years. The 20-member club organizes charity shows and cultural programmes every year and uses the proceeds from them for this purpose. [The Statesman]

Construction on Bio-trail begins in Mechi

Taplejung ( Photo source – Dunge Valley)

Construction works have started on a bio-trail linking higher reaches of hilly and mountainous districts of Mechi Zone and passing through Darjeeling and Sikkim of India up to Bhutan, an RSS report says.

The road starts from the Nepal-India border.

According to the report, locals in Mangalbare of Mechi district looked excited following the start of the construction of the bio-trail with the direct participation of the local people and through the cooperation of different national and international stakeholders and social organizations.

The objective of constructing the bio-trail is to conserve the rare flora and fauna found in the region and to promote village tourism.

Brothels in fear of act reforms

Siliguri, June 1: Members of the Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee (DMSC), comprising mainly of sex workers, apprehend that some of the proposed amendments to the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956 may constrict their livelihood. [Inset: The seminar in progress. Picture by Kundan Yolmo]

They said the proposed law banning renting out premises for “sex work” would “ultimately lead to the profession to go underground”.

The sex workers were at a legal awareness programme organised by the Darjeeling District Legal Aid Forum in collaboration with the DMSC at a school auditorium near Khalpara,

According to Section 3(1) of the proposed amendment, if any house owner is caught renting out his or her premises for sex work, the first offence would lead to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 10,000. For a second offence, the house owner could be jailed for seven years with a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh.

28 tonnes of relief airlifted to cyclone-hit Myanmar

ARMY LIVE

Students at the training session at Kripan Riding School

India has sent one aeroplane load of ready-to-eat meals to the worst-ever cyclone hit Myanmar. As part of Operation Sahayata, 28 tonnes of relief items were airlifted to the neighbouring country.

Relief material were transported to the Bagdogra airfield under the supervision of the Sub Area headquarters and loading into the aircraft was carried out by the railhead supply depot, Bengdubi, together with Indian Air Force personnel.

Summer camp

A summer riding camp has been organised by the Kripan Riding School from May 12 to June 7 to engage youngsters in the sport and also to impart basic riding training to novices.

The Army Supply Corps is running the school at the Binnaguri cantonment for the personnel of the station and their family members.

The camp has been instrumental in raising awareness, professional acumen and self-confidence of children. It has also strengthened the bond between man and animal, and the riders are now keen to spread the message of “love the animals: they are a great inspiration”.

Gorkha Pathshala, a historical monument

By Puran P Bista

The Gorkha Pathshala School has been the oldest educational institution run by people of Nepali origin in India. It was established in 1876 by a group of ex-army personnel of the then British Gorkha regiments settled permanently after their retirement in Shillong, says Hari Prasad Pradhan, the Principal of Gorkha Pathshala, who has been working at this school since 1964. ‘This year, we are celebrating our one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary, can you believe this? We are planning on how we should celebrate the 2001 year amid the ethnic tension. I hope it will be as grand as you expect’, he adds biting betel nuts.

In 1987, the Gorkha High School set up to cater to the educational needs of the children of Nepali minority, was burnt down by local Khasis at night, the night the state government had imposed curfew on the ethnic Nepalese to prevent clashes. Since then, Nepalis of Shillong have lived in a state of uncertainty and insecurity. In fact, one-third of the Nepali population settled for generations have left India’s Meghalaya state due to ethnic clashes.

After the Sepoy Mutiny that gave the British control over India, the Gorkha troops under the British command annexed northeast India. Consequently, Cherapunji was made the capital of the Assam province. At least four Gorkha battalions were stationed at Cherapunji, once a centripetal force of the India’s rainbow region. However, due to the hot and humid climate, besides heavy rains during summer, the Gorkha troops moved from Cherapunji in the early 1860s to Shillong, the present capital of India’s Meghalaya state. There were some civilians known as the ‘floating population’ of Nepali origin who had accompanied the Gurkha personnel. They had established themselves as dairy farmers and supplied the milk products to defense personnel. These ex-army and serving personnel including the dairy farmers had their families with them. And in order to cater to the educational need of their children, they founded a Nepali medium school named ‘Libery School’.

‘The name of the school probably meant ‘Library School’, Pradhan points at the spelling mistake of Libery. ‘Since they were uneducated from rural Nepal that could have led to such a glaring mistake’, he believes. Notable among the founders were Captain Kalu Thapa and Subedar Jai Chand.

Panel thrust to water flow

Darjeeling, June 1: The Bengal government has formed a high-level advisory committee to oversee the implementation of the Rs 55-crore Balasun supply scheme that is expected to solve the water shortage problem in Darjeeling town.

“The committee has been entrusted with the job of reviewing the progress of work, suggesting measures for the timely commission of the project and coordinating with all agencies including the DGHC,” said Pranai Rai, the MLA from Darjeeling, who heads the panel.

The other members of the advisory committee formed on May 28 include Dawa Narbula and Suraj Pathak, MPs for the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively.

Under the scheme, water will be pumped from the Balasun, about 30km from Darjeeling, over a distance of 12km in two phases. A fourth lake is expected to be set up at Tiger Hill for distribution of water. Currently, Darjeeling requires about 15-18 lakh gallons of water every day, but the municipality can provide only about 7-8 lakh gallons.

The project, which is the first major initiative of the state government to end the water shortage in the tourist town, is expected to be completed by November 29, 2009.

The Planning Commission had played a major role in initiating the scheme with a grant of Rs 10 crore. The rest of the amount was sanctioned by the state government.

Call clue turns cold

Siliguri, June 1: A telephone call reportedly made by Rana Bardhan, the missing employee of Bata India Ltd, from Mayapur prompted his brother to rush to Nadia district. But the hope fizzled out after Bappa Bardhan reached Nadia.

“The missing person reportedly telephoned his younger brother Bappa yesterday evening and told him that he wanted to leave the worldly life and become a sanyasi,” said Pradip Dutta, the deputy superintendent of police, Siliguri.

The police had traced the call to a pubic telephone booth in Mayapur in Nadia district.

Bappa reached Mayapur this morning. “But we are yet to receive any confirmation from the man on whether he had found his missing brother or not,” Dutta said.

Bardhan was appointed manager of the Bata store in Darjeeling’s Chowkbazaar about eight months ago. He went missing on his way home to Siliguri’s Sukantapally around 8.30pm on Tuesday.

Bappa had lodged a missing person’s diary with the Siliguri police station next day. According to the police, the last time Bardhan talked to his mother Ramadevi and wife Paromita over the phone was on Tuesday afternoon. He had told them that he was coming to Siliguri that evening.

Till now, Bardhan’s family members and the police are in the dark about his whereabouts.

Sikkim needs a study forum

By Shital Pradhan, Singtam

Legends are part of developmental evolution of human race and cannot be single out simply being an imaginary one. These legends had been the bases of many future findings that were once a tales woven in narration of reality and folklore. We belong to the land of Lepchas where they are termed as a primitive tribe. But yet we are not able to confront ourselves from the rear fact that we lack evidences to speak out our minds. We believe in age old ethnicity and words of scholars but the real truth remains the fact that our future generations needs to be explained the mystic forces of time immemorial that build up our Sikkim, from the days of so called earliest life in a Lepcha tribe to the three century old Namgyal Dynasty and further towards the making of the Sikkim that we live in today. From a small Himalayan Kingdom to a 22^nd state in the mighty Indian Union, the stamp sized state of Sikkim had witness many major transformations. Much like folklore the history of early Sikkim is divided between the facts and the uncertainty. Let’s speak that Bhutias and Nepalese followed to this land of Sikkim where the Lepcha tribe had already been dwelling. Later on the people from different states of India enter our land and made it their homes. But in course of time this fact could be hindered if proper documentation is not under done and who knows years to come our great- great grand children might have an academic lesson that it was the tribal people from the adjoining states of India that set up the Himalayan land of Sikkim that was followed by the Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese from other part of the neighbouring countries. Sikkim is mysterious, very rich in legends and yet we have never presented ourselves in the scientific ways. We never tried to collect the exact data of those numerous folklore that had been part of every man’s life since ages. Defining the exact time epoch of certain incidents including those of pottery pieces found around the fields of Daramdin and stories of the Great Flood at Mt. Tendong could possibly put the state of Sikkim on the world map in a different dimension. Once going through an article published on Sonam Tshering Lepcha, a man behind the famous Lepcha museum in Kalimpong in a local newspaper from Gangtok it was mention about the people collecting intact pots that was quite different from those collected by Sonam Lepcha himself unearthed from the sites of the legendary ladder story belonged to certain communities graveyard. Sounds interesting, yet there is less possibility that the climate of Sikkim suits any type of mud that is used in making pottery and it is really a matter of discovery how did those people established the tower of pots! Myths of man-like animal Yeti heard on numerous accounts along the Himalayan range of North Sikkim could be the missing link between the early man and us. We can help out understand the evolution of mankind, its society and its ways of living. The foot prints found at Chungthang have developed a sort of controversy over the two scholarly men of the bygone centuries. There are mixed believers that those foot impression belong to either Guru Rimpoche or Guru Nanak! These are just few outlines from the strings of legend that are associated with our Sikkim.

With every passing days those folklore are being endangered and surely we need to preserve it who knows at the end we might never understand was these unsolved mysterious the very treasures that our ancestor had been talking about over the years. In order to organize ourselves and understand those numerous unsolved mysterious and preserve the ancient culture heritage of the state there is a need of a forum in Sikkim, more or less a Sikkim Study Forum.

Help from abroad for poor kids – - Trust set up with dreams of better education

Kurseong, June 1: Liz McKenna from the UK and Laura McIlhenny from Australia came to Gayabari as volunteers to teach English at a local school. Now, the two young women have set up a trust to sponsor the education of underprivileged children from the area. “The time spent at Blue Diamond English Boarding School has brought us close to the children and the people in and around Gayabari. That is why we have decided to found the Blue Diamond Educational Trust, which we hope will give underprivileged children access to better education,” said McKenna, a student from Oxford in the UK. Her friend McIlhenny studies in Hobart, Australia. [Inset: McKenna (second from left) and McIlhenny with the two children selected for scholarships at the programme on Saturday. Picture by Vivek Singh]

The committee for the trust was formed yesterday at a small programme at Gayabari, 15km from here. McKenna and McIlhenny are in the committee along with four residents of the area. “Through the trust, we hope to provide full funding to the children to study at Blue Diamond School up to Class X. We believe that an education in the English medium will prove vital in opening up a broad range of post-schooling opportunities for them,” said McIlhenny. “An orphanage, Shanta Bhawan, has agreed to help us select the most-deserving of candidates irrespective of caste, race or religion. We have also set up an account and welcome any money raised by donations or through fundraising, which will go towards improving facilities for the sponsored children,” the Australian added. Shanta Bhawan is an orphanage at Gayabari run by the Missionaries of Charity. The trust will take care of the students’ school fees, books, stationery and the expense of travelling to and from school. “If a student fails in a class for two successive years, his or her sponsorship will stop. We have included this condition to ensure that after getting funds, the children and their parents do not neglect studies,” said B.B. Thapa, a trust member. The trust has already identified two underprivileged children from Tindharia near Gayabari. Thapa said the children must be of an age suitable for admission to any year between Nursery and Class IV. The trust may later think about extending the scholarships to cover education beyond Class X, said one of the members. [The Telegraph]

Closed tea garden link in hides haul

Alipurduar, June 1: Foresters have seized skins of an adult barking deer and a leopard cat from a former worker of the Kanthalguri tea estate in Jalpaiguri, blowing the lid off a poaching and smuggling racket operating in the closed gardens of the Dooars. [Inset: The skin of the leopard cat. Picture by Biplab Basak]

The arrested man, Chunia Mohali, was forwarded to the court of the chief judicial magistrate of Jalpaiguri this afternoon. According to a senior forest officer, Mohali has revealed the names of some of the other gang-members and all of them are from either Chamurchi or Kanthalguri tea estate.

Both gardens have been closed since 2002.

The closure of the tea gardens has already put enormous pressure on the resources of the adjacent forests. The residents of the gardens have become increasingly dependent on the forests for fuel and now, illegal means of livelihood.

Guard wall collapse fuels flood fear – Teesta threat to Dikchu town

Gangtok, June 1: Residents of Dikchu are spending sleepless nights after a portion of the 120ft-long protection wall on the bank of the Teesta gave way on Friday. [Inset: The portion of the protection wall that gave way on Friday. Picture by Prabin Khaling]

The town is located close to the dam being built under the 540mw Teesta Stage V project in East Sikkim.

At least 15 houses on the lower side of the road at Old Dikchu Bazaar face the threat of being washed away by the Teesta.

With the dam restricting the flow of the river for the generation of power, the Teesta, which in recent times has swelled considerably because of heavy rains and siltation, has breached the wall and is now uncomfortably close to the buildings. Each of these buildings houses five to six families, who fear that the remaining part of the protection wall around the horseshoe-shaped bank — from the Dikchu bridge to the Shiva Mandir—may not last long. Some of the houses have already developed cracks, the residents claimed.

“We are scared. Our houses may be washed away any moment and we have nowhere to go,” said a resident who also owns small maize field above the breached wall. “The walls gave away with a thud,” he said, recollecting Friday’s cave-in.

Lack of funds threatens study dreams – Future uncertain

Jaigaon, June 1: Nilu Subba’s father died when she was studying in Class IV, forcing her mother to leave for Bhadrapur in Nepal to live at a relative’s place. [Inset: Nilu Subba and (below) Milan Chhetri. Pictures by Subhash Chandra Bose]

However, Nilu and her sister Namrata returned to their aunt’s house in Kalchini block’s Hamiltonganj and started studying in Latabari Higher Secondary School. And this year, Nilu secured 710 marks (88.75 per cent) in the Madhyamik examination, only to be faced with an uncertain future as her aunt, an anganwadi worker, is unable to bear the expenses of further studies.

Nilu is not alone in her predicament. This reporter caught up with quite a few students who have passed the Higher Secondary or the Madhyamik examinations with good marks, but are afraid that they would have to cut short their education because of financial constraints.

For 16-year-old Nilu, hope lies with the headmaster of her school, Dwarika Sharma. “Nilu has done Kalchini block proud. I will see what I can do for her,” the headmaster of Latabari Higher Secondary School said.

“I want to study science in Higher Secondary, but I do not know if I will be able to. My sister studies in Class IX and she is also facing the same problem,” Nilu said.

Jitendra Sha, who studies in the same school, has secured 385 out of 500 (77 per cent) in the Higher Secondary examinations. The 19-year-old’s father, Badri Sha, is a cart-puller.

“I earn anything between Rs 50 and Rs 100 a day and have to support a six-member family. How can I look after my son’s higher education?” Badri asked.

“I don’t know how I will do it but I want to graduate from Alipurduar College and then find a job and end my father’s toils,” Jitendra said.