Forest Department serves eviction notice on Tista hawkers

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, AUGUST 6, 2024: The West Bengal Forest Department has issued an ultimatum to more than 40 shops that if these shops are not dismantled within a period of seven days, the Forest Department will carry out the demolition drive itself. The shops are spread along the roadside from 2nd Mile to Tista in the Kalimpong district.

The eviction order of the Forest Department, in the wake of the efforts of the West Bengal Government to prevent encroachment on government land, has created a sensation in the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Faced with the prospect of losing their only means of livelihood, the shopkeepers in distress rushed to the Kalimpong District Forest Department office on Tuesday in a state of panic.

A woman who had set up a shop with a plastic covering expressed her distress, saying: "The Forest Department is torturing us day and night. Are we not human beings? Are we supposed to leave Tista now? Where will we go? What will we do for a living? We can't even collect firewood without being caught by the Forest Department. We didn't come here by choice; we set up these small shops out of necessity. Now we're worried because the Department is threatening to demolish the only shop we have. We're not allowed to make a living in our own place. We're not squatters; we've been here in Tista since birth."

A group led by Trinamool Congress leader Sanjok Gupta submitted a memorandum to Forest Department officials, saying that the shops must not be demolished. The Trinamool leader said the shopkeepers were being treated unfairly and he was ready to do whatever it would take to support them. He said the Forest Department seemed to be indifferent to the situation. Many people had set up shops along the roadside, but the authorities had not issued any notices to them.