Livelihood hit hard with eateries being shut down
Anand Ghatani
Tindharia March 25: Far from the maddening
crowd, a hamlet better known for its links with the Darjeeling Himalayan
Railway (DHR) profusely is reeling under continuous problem of illegal felling
of trees thus triggering fresh assumption that the act may bring in more
landslides to the region which has been designated as a landslide prone area in
the past.
Police in a sting operation last night seized a
Maruti Van loaded with logs of teak wood considered to be most precious form of
wood from Tindharia but could not arrest the persons involved in the racket.
The seizure of van loaded with teak has sent a signal that the region has
become prone area for the wood smugglers in the region. The smuggling seems
easier given that the National Highway 55 is closed for the past two years
after it was struck with a series of landslides in 2011 while the government so
far has not initiated any repair works.
According to the police the van was loaded with
46 pieces of illegal timber and this is not the first of its kind seizure in
the region. “This is a burning problem for the region that has been already
struck with landslides that has shut down the highway for the past couple of
years. The people it seems are not aware of the fact the effects of
deforestation in the near future. The police has been on regular checks along
with the forest department to monitor such illegal felling of timber but given
the communication gap the place has with Siliguri or Kurseong sometimes it is
difficult to get hold of the culprits,” says Robin Thapa, the inspector
incharge of Kurseong Police Station. Tindharia and its adjoining area come
under Kurseong police station.
Police in the past have seized several such
consignments being smuggled to destination unknown so far. However, many in the
area attribute the problem with the closure of National Highway 55 once a
lifeline of the hills. Most of the people along the highway used to depend on
the roadside eatery shops for their livelihood as vehicles ferrying tourists to
the hills used to stop over for refreshment. Adding to the wooes, the problem
has also persisted given the non-functioning of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
(DHR) between Siliguri and Kurseong for the past two years.
“The people here are in a pathetic state as
they have no means of livelihood in the area. The eateries were the best
business that used to fetch handsome income to sustain life but the closure of
both the highway and the DHR has doomed the availability of livelihood. The
living cost has also risen in the area as a person has to spend more than 100
bucks to reach Siliguri these days. When the highway was open the travelling
cost to Siliguri was merely Rs. 20,” a resident in Tindharia told NBS Times on
condition on anonymity.
The forest department which is in charge of
looking after the forest area interestingly has a different story to tell. “Our
men continuously patrol the forest cover in the area but given the strategic
location of the area used by the smugglers it is sometimes difficult to track
their moves. Moreover, the area is a boarder area of different forest divisions
that has been causing inconveniences for us to work,” said S. Anand, the Divisional
Forest Officer of Kurseong. Anand opined that the shortage in manpower and that
some of the staffs attaining old age is also a severe problem for the
department to curb the menace.
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