no time for tea in hills...bandh enters 9th day, with 168 people held and tea industry facing shutdown

PTI, SNS, Darjeeling, 11 August 2013: Kalimpong Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJMM) core committee member Shekhar Sharma was arrested in connection with old cases registered against him as the indefinite shutdown in Darjeeling Hills entered its ninth day today. 

Police said Mr Sharma, who was absconding, was arrested last night following a tip off and with his arrest the number of those taken into custody has risen to 168. 

Life in the Hills was paralysed for the ninth day today amidst the 72 hour deadline set by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to withdraw the bandh. 

There were reports of poor people walking long distances to reach Darjeeling in search of provisions. GJMM, which has called the bandh, has put up small tents in Darjeeling from where it is distributing small rations to BPL people. 

All shops and other commercial establishments have been closed since the beginning of the bandh. Vehicular traffic on NH-31A, the lifeline of Sikkim, was also nil, the sources said. GJMM leaders and supporters gathered at the main areas in Darjeeling town and shouted slogans in support of Gorkhaland and against the government’s deadline. 

Meanwhile, cable TV operators have resumed services after being ordered to stop yesterday. In the meantime, the bandh has now sparked fears of the Darjeeling tea industry facing a complete shutdown. 

The strike would affect the entire post-second flush which takes place during August amounting to 7.35 lakh kilogram. 

“The bandh is going on and it is becoming extremely difficult for us for sustaining operations,” chairman of Darjeeling Tea Association, S S Bagaria said here. He said that although the tea industry has been exempted from the shutdown, movement of tea and inputs from and to the factory has stopped completely. 

Mr Bagaria said that the 87-odd gardens located in the Hills are unable to transport the tea from the factory and the produce has to be stored on the factory premises. 

“There is a capacity limit of the factories to store their produce. If this continues for another three to four days, plucking will have to be completely stopped,” Mr Bagaria said. 

 The bandh has also stopped entry of inputs like coal and fuel to the factories as no trucks were able to run in the Hills, Mr Bagaria said. 

“Since the entire crop is exported, it will create uncertainty among exporters and importing countries,” he said. Chairman of Andrew Yule & Company Kallol Datta added that supply of ration to the workers is also getting hit. 

“Owing to the strike, no ration can be transported to the gardens and factories,” Mr Datta said. “We will have to stop all activity if the strike continues for a few more days,” he said. 

The Indian Tea Association, the apex body of tea planters, has called an emergency meeting on Tuesday to evaluate the situation in the Hills. 

“We have called for a meeting of the members having interests in Darjeeling for a review of the situation,” ITA secretary-general Manojit Dasgupta said.