`Illegal' tag on cinchona house fuels concern

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 29 Jun 2019, Darjeeling: The decision of the Directorate of Cinchona and Other Medicinal Plants to dismantle an "illegal" house at Mungpoo, about 35km from Darjeeling, is threatening to whip up a storm in the hills where the issue of ownership is sensitive.

Officials dismantled the house of Rupen Chhetri at Simlay village, describing the structure being constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna as "illegal", on Thursday. The news triggered resent- ment among cinchona plantation dwellers across the hills. The plantation is spread over 26,000 acres.

Anit Thapa, chairman of the board of administrator of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration issued, a statement on Friday promising to visit the area on Saturday to get first-hand information.

"I will not allow injustice to be meted out to the downtrodden," Thapa said.

Thapa's decision to issue a statement and personally visit the site is in indication of the sensitivity of this issue in the hills.

Chhetri is a day labourer but does not work in the plantation.

Just like the tea gardens, the cinchona plantation in Mungpoo was set up in 1862. In the cinchona plantation, a labourer's job is handed down to the next generation.

In return, the cinchona plantation provides houses and kitchen garden to the workers.

Over the decades, the newer generations have branched out into other professions but many have built houses in the ancestral village. Technically, any other construction in cinchona plantation is "illegal".

"Ruben Chhetri's father used to work with the PWD and was staying in the place for a very long time. Ruben inherited his father's tin house and was building a proper house under the scheme. The decision to dismantle the underconstruction house has ruffled feathers," said a resident.

Residents said that the overwhelming feeling in the area was that a person living in the area was being ousted.

Some residents said that apart from the descendants of the cinchona plantation workers, several outsiders had also constructed houses.

"Illegal construction has grown in the cinchona plantation. There is always a tipping point and it has to be controlled somewhere. However, considering the sensitive nature of the issue, this particular episode could have been handled with more tact," said an administrative source.

An official said: "This issue has to be solved at the highest level and some policy has to be framed. Many believe that granting land rights to the cinchona plantation labourers could be the way forward, covering not just the cinchona population but also workers in tea plantations. More than 80 per cent of residents in the hills do not have land rights.