GTA: Hill residents sceptical- Power failure and rain mar Darjeeling's big day

Manas Ranjan Banerjee, SNS,DARJEELING, 4 August 2012: Though the people have turned up in their thousands to remain witness to the historic GTA oath-taking the collective euphoria could hardly drown a murmur of dissatisfaction. Some people from Darjeeling and Kurseong said, in muffled voice, that they are sceptical whether the bonhomie between the state government and the GJMM would endure.

“We are happy that the chief minister has announced a development bonanza again for the Hills today. But it should be remembered that Bimal Gurung is as mercurial as Mamata Banerjee. The contentious land issue might prove an irritant after some time and we would not be surprised if Gurung decides to step down. The state government cannot test his patience too much. The land issue is as dear to him as the GTA,” said a resident of Kurseong. Another GJMM supporter who was formerly associated with the GNLF, said today’s oath-taking might mark the beginning of the end of the GJMM era. “The party may split in the coming days. Hill’s history bears witness to the fact that no party can reign here perpetually. The Subash Ghisingh regime crumbled after some years, though his fiefdom seemed to be invincible. The same fate might overtake Gurung’s party too. It is only a matter of time,” he said.

A senior citizen from Darjeeling said Mr Dipen Mally, one of the Madan Tamang murder case accused, having taken oath today has not gone down well with the Hill conscience. “The gruesome murder keeps haunting us even today and we still wonder how the Opposition leader was hacked to death in the presence of the police personnel that day,” he said. A local youth, Rohan Thapa, said the GTA is synonymous with Gorkhaland state for most of the Hill populace. “We have turned up here not to celebrate the constitution of the GTA but to express solidarity behind our century-long statehood aspiration,” he said.

Power failure and rain mar Darjeeling's big day

Jayanta Gupta, TNN | Aug 5, 2012,Darjeeling: What started with a bang in 2011 ended in a sort of a whimper on Saturday. The kind of enthusiasm witnessed at Pintail village on June 18, 2011, when the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) agreement was signed was strangely missing at the Darjeeling Mall on Saturday when the GTA members took oath. Barely 2,500 people had gathered to cheer the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders who took oath. Nearly ten times the number had gathered at the Pintail village in 2011 though it is barely a few kilometers from Siliguri where the GJM has little influence.

Even a GJM leader conceded that the party has lost ground in the last one year. "Trouble is that the top GJM leadership has lost touch with the people. Most people today support the GJM out of fear. Everybody is scared of a violent backlash if they speak out," he said.

It was bad business at the Mall on Saturday with most shops remaining shut throughout the day due to the ceremony. The worst affected were the temporary stall owners who sat at their empty stalls as a handful of tourists passed by., many of who sat at their empty stalls as the few tourists passed them by.

Save for the Mall, life went on as usual for the rest of Darjeeling.

Whatever interruption that occurred was due to the power failure that started from the morning itself. It was of little benefit to the people of the hill station that both chief minister Mamata Banerjee and governor M K Narayanan were in town.

Darjeeling remained without electricity for the better part of the day with the steady drone of gensets destroying the peace and quiet. The presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and governor M K Narayanan had little impact.

"It happens every time there is a thunderstorm. The weather is rarely good in the Hills at this time of the year so you can imagine our plight. Why should the Hills people suffer in this way?" the owner of a cafe asked. He had not been able to serve food to customers due to the power failure.

According to power department officials in Siliguri, transmission lines that pass through Jaldhaka and Sukna fail whenever the weather deteriorates. The morning showers and the heavy downpour in the evening brought in more problems for the residents.

An elderly woman tried her best to clear a clogged drain outside the well-known Joey's Pub while people walked through ankle-deep muck. "See, Mamata didi wants to turn this into Switzerland. I wonder whether people in Switzerland have seen such wonderful sights. Nothing happened during the GNLF's time and you will get to see the same sight if you return after five years and you," she said, disgust writ large on her face.