SILIGURI, 21 MAY: To bring under control "resident" wild elephants that frequently damage houses and crops and even kill people, the state forest department is planning a project. The objective is to confine elephants known to be trouble-makers ~ particularly tuskers ~ in a forest area and keep them there, inside the fencing. State forest minister Hiten Barman said his department had sent two proposals recently to the Central government, to build "rescue" centres for the notorious elephants.

Power distribution network in the State collapsed today following tripping of the 220 KV Siliguri-Bongaigaon grid/circuit of the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL). The 220 KV grid tripped because of the overloading it was subjected to owing to the non-restoration of the two 400 KV towers of the PGCIL at Binaguri in West Bengal.

Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL) sources said that the tripping of the grid/circuit resulted in the total collapse of the NE region grid of the PGCIL.

Siliguri, March 14: The first “green” train in the country will be introduced in north Bengal, the railway minister said today while announcing five new express trains for the region. “A green train would run through the pristine forests of north Bengal,” minister Dinesh Trivedi said in his railway budget speech but did not provide any details on the route or frequency.

Siliguri, March 1: The forest department will conduct a census to find out the number of red pandas in two national parks in the hills. The first phase of the study will begin on Saturday. The survey will cover the Neora Valley National Park in Kalimpong subdivision and Singalila National Park in Darjeeling.
Foresters said 61 teams will conduct the study in two phases — from March 3 to 7 and from April 5 to 9. Another survey would be conducted later. The reports will be submitted to the forest department by the end of this year.

Makaibari garden in Kurseong, which has introduced tea tourism. Siliguri: The government will support tea tourism based on infrastructure already existing in plantations but will not issue fresh lease for any portion of the garden land to be used for tourism. The government fears that issuing fresh lease would lead to rampant clearing of plantations for tourism, affecting the apex industry that employs lakhs of people. A new lease for a portion of garden land would mean that the plot could be used for alternative purposes like tourism.

Siliguri, Feb. 14: North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb announced over Rs 130 crore for several projects from his new office on Hill Cart Road where he started working today. Of the total, Rs 20 crore would be used for developing infrastructure in the hills, said the minister. “It has been decided that Rs 20 crore would be sanctioned for the hills to develop infrastructure like roads, drains and culverts. The funds would be paid from my department and work would start in this financial year,” Deb said.

Islampur, Jan. 30: The North Dinajpur district administration has started the proceedings to return more than 70 acres of land to its rightful tribal owners in Ramganj. This is the first time that the administration has taken up the initiative to restore illegally occupied tribal land, an official claimed. On January 16, the subdivisional officer of Islampur, Partha Ghosh, wrote to the district project officer-cum-district welfare officer to begin the proceedings for restoration of the land under the provisions of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955.

SILIGURI, 8 DEC: The north Bengal development minister, Mr Gautam Deb, today inaugurated the North Bengal Tea park near New Jalpaiguri railway station. It has been learnt from the SJDA officials and senior functionaries of the Indian Tea Board that the Rs 23 crore 92 lakh project happens to be the second tea park of the world after Dubai and the largest tea park in the world.

SILIGURI, 9 OCT: The Darjeeling district administration has been falling upon its contingency funds in providing relief to the earthquake victims across the Hills who are now residing in over 100 makeshift shelters.

The forest department will experiment with chilli crackers to scare away elephant herds from forest villages. The aim is to reduce man-animal conflict in the region by preventing elephant herds from entering certain regions. Following an order by the state forest minister, Mr Hiten Barman, top forest officials plan to try different ideas, like beekeeping and bursting chilli crackers, to find out the impact of these measures on wildlife.