Deb office in hills irks Morcha

Gautam Deb and Bimal Gurung

Vivek Chhetri and Bireswar Banerjee, TT, June 29: North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb today opened an office of his department in Kurseong and within hours of the inauguration, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha said the party would drag the department to court for "interference" in the functioning of the GTA.
The Morcha, however, refrained from attacking chief minister Mamata Banerjee and instead trained its guns on Deb.
Recently, Bimal Gurung had called on Mamata in the hills and said it was his "best ever" meeting with the chief minister.
Deb inaugurated his department's one-room office on the ground floor of the Kurseong Circuit House.
Asked if he felt the Morcha would oppose the opening of the office, Deb said: "I do not think so. In the past, our department has helped with funds while constructing Rohini Road and also in rebuilding the Bijanbari bridge in Darjeeling. Moreover, the three MLAs (from the hills) had also met me in Calcutta earlier and wanted my department to help them in developing the hills."
Rohit Sharma, the Morcha MLA from Kurseong, however, said Deb's statement was wrong. "When not a single paisa was allocated to the GTA in the north Bengal development department budget, we took up the matter with the minister. However, instead of allocating funds to the GTA, the department opened up its office in Kurseong, which is nothing but encroachment on the GTA's jurisdiction," he said.
Later in the day, executive GTA Sabha member Anit Thapa threatened to take the north Bengal development department to court. "...the Centre and the state have formed the autonomous GTA for the overall development of the hills and we feel the inauguration of the office is an interference in the powers and jurisdiction of the GTA," Thapa said in a written statement.
"...Mamata Banerjee had on Saturday said at a janta durbar that the government would work jointly with the GTA to solve the drinking water problem in the hills. This is a clear indication that the chief minister wants to work with the GTA. However, we feel minister Gautam Deb's decision to open an office without consulting the GTA is an indication of his vested political interest," said Thapa.
"In the past, too, the GTA had gone to court when the state had tried to interfere in the working of the hill body. This time, too, we will go to court against the interference of the north Bengal development department," he added.
Earlier, the GTA had obtained a stay from the Calcutta High Court after the north Bengal development department had floated tenders for construction of three roads in the hills.
In Siliguri, Deb said his office would work for the development of the hills. "The office has started on a temporary basis in Kurseong Circuit House. It will function for the development of the hills and will maintain a liaison with all elected bodies in the hills. I have decided to attend the office on the first and fourth Saturdays every month," Deb said.