Healing touch and the lack of it, in Jalpaiguri and Kalimpong

There are hydro projects on the West Bengal end of  river Teesta too and people in the river basin have suffered the consequences, by way of the changing character of the river and the damage to NH 10.

Editorial ECI, 3 April 2024 : It was prompt and laudable indeed for a host of political leaders of  West Bengal to have dashed from Kolkata to Jalpaiguri in the wake of the freak storm that hit the north Bengal district on Sunday, taking five lives and destroying property. Among them were Chief  Minister of  West Bengal Mamata Banerjee herself, Governor C. V. Anand  Bose,  Leader  of  the  Opposition  Subhendu Adhikari  and  the  scion  of  the  Trinamool  Congress family Abhishek Banerjee. 

“The state administration will do everything to help the affected families," the Chief   Minister   said,   but   left   it   to   the   district administration to give the details of the compensations to be paid as the Model Code of Conduct for the election was already in place. The rest of the dignitaries took morning flights to Bagdogra out of Kolkata to reach Jalpaiguri when the day was still young. 

Explaining why he had fallen behind the Chief Minister in the race to reach Jalpaiguri, Subhendu Adhikari was heard explaining in the television that as a lesser mortal he did not have access to a chartered flight. Only the maverick BJP leader Dilip Ghosh struck a discordant note, saying it was a BJP storm that had hit Jalpaiguri in the wake of the election.

Witnessing this procession of  VIPs to show sympathy to the victims of the storm in Jalpaiguri, people in the adjoining Kalimpong district of  West Bengal may not be blamed if they wonder why a similar show of sympathy was not visible when the Teesta basin area of the district was hit by the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood in October last. Though Sikkim had taken the brunt of the flood, there  were  deaths  in  the  Kalimpong  district  too, especially in the West Bengal side of  Rangpo. Residents of  the  Teesta  Bazar  area  were  badly  affected,  with properties lost and families having to stay in relief camps. About 14 people were reported to be killed in the flash flood in the West Bengal side of  the hills, about 550 houses were damaged; with 155 being completely swept away in Rangpo and Teesta Bazar. Nearly 1,000 people had to be shifted to relief camps. Large parts of the National Highway 10 were washed away, leaving the people in lurch.   

The Chief  Minister of  West Bengal had sent a four-member team of the State Cabinet to the Kalimpong district after the flood and sanctioned Rs 25 crore. The main task of relief and rehabilitation had, however,  been  entrusted  to  Gorkhaland  Territorial Administration Chief Executive Anit Thapa who was the one who had visited all the worst affected areas.

People of  Jalpaiguri, however, also had the opportunity to  experience  the  healing  touch  of  Chief  Minister Mamata Banerjee and other top dignitaries. The flood of October last was caused by the bursting open of the South Lhonak Lake, but the hydro-electric project at Chungthang on river Teesta was responsible for the flood taking such a devastating form; with the dam collapsing and water rushing out suddenly. 

There are hydro projects on the West Bengal end of  river Teesta too and people in the river basin have suffered the consequences, by way of the changing character of the river and the damage to NH 10.
Their grievance is that unlike Sikkim the people of the hills of Kalimpong and Darjeeling have not benefited from these hydro projects. The revenue to the West Bengal Government by way of royalty from these hydro projects wheeled away to Kolkata while the people of  hills continue to suffer. In Sikkim, by contrast, the revenue that accrues to the Sikkim government is spent for the benefit of people living in the Teesta basin.