TMC plea plan for Teesta folks

Rajeev Ravidas, TT, Kalimpong, June 16: The hill unit of the Trinamul Congress today said it would meet the party leadership in Calcutta tomorrow to seek its intervention to ensure the safety of the people threatened by the rise of the Teesta in the monsoon. 

About 600 families living along the river at Teesta Bazar, 29 Mile and Geilkhola are in danger because of release of water from dams upstream and cracks on embankments. 

Sanjog Gupta, the spokesman for Trinamul’s Kalimpong subdivisional committee, said a delegation of the hill unit led by president Rajen Mukhia would meet the party’s all India general secretary Mukul Roy in Calcutta tomorrow and apprise him of the situation. 

“With the onset of the rainy season, the Teesta has started rising. Protection walls along the riverbanks are developing cracks. People are getting worried, especially since the NHPC authorities release water from the upstream dams at short notices. All three villages have a risk of being swept away if the river continues to rise,” Gupta said. 

The villages are about 15km from Kalimpong.