Torsa tea garden in Kalchini block of Alipurduar district abandoned by officials

The garden close to the Bhutan border employs 652 workers and is situated 55km from the district headquarters

Anirban Choudhury, TT,  Alipurduar Published 18.07.24 : The management on Tuesday evening left the Torsa tea garden in Kalchini block of Alipurduar district without issuing any notice.

The garden close to the Bhutan border employs 652 workers and is situated 55km from the district headquarters.

The workers said they had last received their wages on May 19.

“With the management failing to clear the dues, many labourers had stopped coming for work. Yesterday (on Tuesday), some of the workers also demonstrated in the garden for immediate payment of their dues,” said a worker.

Lalit Koirala, the president of the Trinamul Cha Sramik Union (Torsa unit), said even electricity had been disconnected in the garden because of non-payment of bills.

“The garden is in chaos. Wages have not been paid for nearly two months, electricity has been disconnected and the management has left,” said Koirala.

Lack of electricity in the factory and other offices means that there is no proper water supply in these offices, said Koirala.

Electricity is available in workers’ residences as they clear power bills on their own.

Sources said a tripartite meeting had been called in the office of the joint labour commissioner in Siliguri on Monday. “However, the meeting was cancelled as none turned up from the management side,” said a source.

Santosh Singh, the manager of the garden, said: “I am on leave and I don’t have any idea what is going on in the garden.”

A section of the workers said the estate had closed in 2020 and reopened in June 2021 under similar circumstances.