CoBRA to counter Maoists in J’khand

14 February 2012

12 groups sent to neighbouring state
biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 14 FEB: As Maoist extremism-hit states like Jharkhand and Odisha have stressed the need for a coordinated action against the rebels, the state government has given a green signal to send the elite CoBRA (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) force, especially trained for Jungle warfare, from Junglemahal.
The decision to assist the neighbouring states was taken recently based on the fact that Maoist activities in Junglemahal are not so strong now as it was in the past three years. Out of the 18 teams operating in the forests of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia district, 12 teams have already been sent to neighbouring Jharkhand, where Maoist insurgency is frequent and violent, a senior Counter Insurgency Force (CIF) official told The Statesman on condition of anonymity.
As the Maoists are now "on the defensive" in West Bengal following the death of their Politburo leader Kishenji in an encounter with the security forces in November last, they have now "consolidated themselves" in Jharkhand and Odisha.
“Actually, there are other forces, including paramilitary forces and state police, to take care of the law and order situation. The CoBRA force is only needed when there is a specific operation. As the Jharkhand government has urged to send special force for conducting combing operation inside deep forests there, a section of the elite force has been sent recently," said a senior police officer.
A police officer, posted in Junglemahal to lead anti-Maoist operation, said: "Sharing of information and other logistic helps between the four States (West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha) and coordinated action among the states along the border areas of the Maoist strongholds is necessary."
Of the three Maoist-hit districts in West Bengal, Purulia shared a 380-km border with Jharkhand, while West Midnapore had a 96-km border with Jharkhand and a 107-km border with Odisha. Majority of these areas are thickly forested with difficult terrain, he said, making it easy for the extremists to escape. According to reports of various Intelligence agencies, at least 20 districts in Jharkhand are affected by Maoist insurgency. Intelligence reports indicate that the Maoists in Jharkhand have provided cadres with training in manufacturing as well as handling of rocket launchers, mortars and grenades. At least 19 Maoists were provided such training under the guidance of seven experts, led by Prakash alias Gaganna from Andhra Pradesh. "These rebels are hiding in the deep forests and para-military forces are not enough to challenge them. As the CoBRA jawans are specially trained for anti-Maoist operation, they have been pulled out from West Bengal," said a CRPF officer, posted in Bengal-Jharkhand border.

Water plant to come up in Haldia

10 February 2012

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HALDIA, 10 FEB: Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Haldia has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Haldia Development Authority (HDA) for laying 12-MGD water supply pipeline at a cost of Rs 56.39 crore.
The project will be implemented by the HDA within 21 months. The IOCL will finance the project while the operation and maintenance of the 14.5-km pipeline will be done by the HDA. 
The agreement was signed at a recent programme held at the office of HDA.  HDA chairman and MP Subhendu Adhikari said: “The project is beneficial to both the HDA and the IOCL. The primary water supply grid of Haldia shall be relieved of IOCL water requirement. This surplus water (about 5 MGD) from primary grid can be given to other industries and the residents." “The HDA is all set to implement phase-II and phase-III of the water supply distribution network projects in order to improve the water supply in the town. The pipelines will be laid from Chaitanyapur to Brajlalchak and then from Brajlalchak to Hatiberia. These projects are expected to be completed within two years,” said Mr Adhikari.
Mr Shubhankar Ganguli, executive director of IOCL-Haldia Refinery, said: “The project envisages a water reservoir and a pump house at Chaitanyapur and a 900-mm pipe line from the pump house to IOCL water reservoir." Meanwhile, the project has been taken up at a time when potable water has been found unfit for drinking in the industrial town. The indiscriminate pumping of water has taken a toll on the groundwater level in both the Haldia municipality area and Haldia industrial belt.
With advent of summer, the quality of water has deteriorated to an alarming level over vast areas of Haldia. The Central Ground Water Board officials have said that “the excessive consumption of groundwater in the industrial area of Haldia has led to an imbalance in the table. More water is being withdrawn than is being replaced. As a result, the water table here has gone down by around 5-7 metre during the past three decades of industrialisation”.
A recent study has revealed that the water supplied by the public health engineering department (PHE) is either extremely saline or contaminated with fluoride. High salt intake can lead to high blood pressure and the swelling of body parts and has been linked to mental illness.

Cops put up posters asking Maoists to return to mainstream

biswabrata goswami

10 February 2012

MIDNAPORE, 10 FEB: Contrary to their earlier practice against Maoists, police in West Midnapore and Jhargram have started a poster campaign for the first time in West Bengal asking the rebels to return to the mainstream.
Encouraged by the surrender of several Maoists recently, both the district police have launched the drive today where they also urged the rebels to avail of the benefits of the government's rehabilitation package for surrendered Maoists.
Earlier, police had put up posters mentioning cash awards on the heads of the most wanted Maoists, but this time they have taken a different step to combat the Maoist menace, a senior security force officer said. Several posters were spotted at different places across Junglemahal in West Midnapore and Jhargram. “Many Maoists have already returned to the mainstream after leaving their guns behind. So, we appeal to you to surrender before the police,” a poster at Midnapore bus stand reads.
Through the posters, written in Bengali, the police have urged Maoists to contact 7407091122 to know the details of the state government's surrender policy. In some places people were not sure about the authenticity of the posters after several police officers expressed ignorance about them. However, Mr Alok Rajoria, additional superintendent of police, Jhargram admitted that the posters were put up by them. “The aim is to persuade the rebels to surrender and to highlight the benefits they stand to gain once they lay down their arms. We also want to stop people from joining the Maoist movement as the rebels are inciting tribals to take to  the path of violence and impeding development,” Mr Rajoria said.
“Usually, we use this method in interior Maoist-hit areas. Since a large number of Maoists have surrendered in the state of late, the posters were put up to reach the squad commanders,” he added.
According to police, around 25 Maoists have surrendered across the Junglemahal in the past few months. Recently, a Maoist couple, who were also close associate of the slain Maoist politburo leader Kishenji, surrendered before IG (Western Range) Gangeswar Singh in Midnapore.
Meanwhile, locals welcomed the initiative taken by the police officials and have urged Maoists to lay down their arms and derive benefits through the various financial assistance schemes started by the state government. “This is a very positive step taken up by the police to urge the youth who have taken a wrong path to join Maoists. The police have pasted posters all over the place urging Maoists to return to the mainstream. The government has given them an opportunity and they should grab it,” said Kailash Munda, a resident of Belpahari.

No move to save Mayachar from Rupnarayan

3 February 2012

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TAMLUK, 3 FEB: Mayachar, one of the most erosion-prone islands in the district, is on the brink of destruction as the mighty Rupnarayan continues to wash away its banks.
For the past two decades, both the Left Front government and the present Trinamul Congress-led government have promised to devise sustainable ways to check river bank erosion, but thousands of islanders are still spending sleepless nights as the mighty Rupnarayan continues to gobble up homes. They can do nothing, but wait for doomsday.
The village, spread over 2 sq km, is on the district's border with Howrah. The river is wild here. Both banks are bereft of houses and have a thick screen of trees. Only the chimneys of brick kilns indicate the presence of human beings.
During the first part of the twentieth century, a large portion of Mayachar was under the Rupnarayan. The river gradually shifted to the northwest, though, and large tracts emerged from under water. Villagers still talk about a flood half a century ago that put the entire area under water.
Maybe that's why the people of Mayachar, which is in Amritberia gram panchayat in Mahisadal, want to forget that it is among the most threatened inhabited islands in the district. Maybe that's why erosion was not a poll issue on this island at least in the last Assembly election. The people of Mayachar would rather debate issues like land acquisition and industrialisation. Just before the last panchayat election, about 2,000 voters here were all supporters of the CPI-M. They later switched to the Trinamul Congress, though, hoping that if it came to power, their problems would at least be noticed.
Mr Mamud Hossain, saha-sabhadhipati of the zilla parishad, said: “We submitted a project proposal worth Rs 1.5 crore for protection of the Rupnarayan bank at Mayachar a few months ago, but the district administration has delayed sanctioning the project ... The zilla parishad has limited funds for carrying out such development work, but in this situation, we have already spent Rs 12 lakh for this purpose."
The problem went from bad to worse in the past few months: 100 buildings, including a primary school, have already been washed away due to erosion.
Mr Madan Guchait, headmaster of the Mayachar high school, said: “A 90-foot stretch of land at Palpara and a 10-foot stretch near the Kheya ghat have been eroded by the river. About a 1.5-kilometre stretch along the Mayachar land is also under a threat of severe erosion and this land will be submerged in this monsoon if protection work is not taken up immediately."

Surjya rival re-elected dist secy

1 February 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 1 FEB: CPI-M strongman of West Midnapore Dipak Sarkar will continue his dominance in the district despite the fact that the party had to pay a huge price for his strategy to set up harmad camps in Junglemahal to counter Maoists offensive.
Mr Sarkar, who is also a CPI-M state secretariat member, was re-elected as the party's West Midnapore district secretary for the seventh term yesterday with a majority of the delegates rallying behind him. A CPI-M insider said though Mr Sarkar was going low in the past few months, he successfully took on his arch rival within the party, Dr Surjya Kanta Mishra, the Opposition leader in the Assembly and a party state secretariat member.
Dr Mishra was able to pick leaders for the posts of local and zonal committees secretaries during the recent conferences. Several leaders, who belong to Mr Sarkar's lobby, were also removed from party posts.
Mr Sarkar's plan to set up harmad camps initially gained wide acceptance within the party. But, subsequently it drew criticism from a section of party leaders as they thought it not only put the party in trouble, but also helped create a wrong notion among the people. The killing of nine villagers at Netai in Lalgarh had added to the party's problem ahead of the last Assembly poll.
Former state minister Susanta Ghosh, who is now in jail in connection with the Benachapra skeleton recovery case, and Mr Sarkar were at the helm of the party in West Midnapore for over 20 years. The district leadership also mounted pressure on the government for help to combat the Maoists. Before the Netai killings, Mr Ghosh had repeatedly claimed in public rallies how his cadres had driven Maoist out of Lalgarh. 
“All these have later gone against Mr Sarkar and Mr Ghosh soon after the Trinamul Congress came to power. Dr Mishra, who once criticised the district leaders, became the Opposition leader in the Assembly and started dominating the committees which were controlled by Mr Sarkar,” a party insider said.
The district committee has been downsized to 70 from 81. Eight new faces have been inducted in the committee. Mr Ghosh has been retained in the new committee. Mr Tarun Roy, who is absconding in the same case, too found a place in the committee. CPI-M leaders like Ahmed Ali, Manik Sengupta, Shyam Pandey and Meghnad Bhunia. Fullora Mondal and Anuj Pandey, who are absconding for their alleged involvement in the Netai case, were also retained along with Sukur Ali and Tapan Ghosh who had been chargesheeted in the Nandigram case.

Buddha hits out at Mamata govt

1 February 2012

‘State has no policy for industry, agriculture’

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MIDNAPORE, 1 FEB: Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today came down heavily on the Mamata Banerjee-government accusing it of moving without any direction and failing to add even a single new industrial venture to what his government had done.
Addressing a party rally in connection with the CPI-M district conference, Mr Bhattacharjee said: “The credit for investment in the IT sector by Wipro and Infosys and in the steel sector by Jindal Steel for its Salboni plant goes to our government and the present government had no role in it. It was because of the Trinamul Congress that the Singur land has been deprived of industry or agriculture.”
The former chief minister said the new government had no targets nor priorities “which was a pity”. He charged the new government acting in a vindictive manner to settle political scores with CPI-M leaders and activists implicating them in false cases. “During the Keshpur violence in 2000, Trinamul Congress had committed crimes. But, I never got any of their leaders and activists arrested. I dealt with the offence politically. The new government is arresting our leaders and supporters in various false cases. But, they will not be able to finish the CPI-M,” Mr Bhattacarjee said.
The new government, he complained, lacked a clear policy and strategy for industry or agriculture and was thoroughly undemocratic in nature. “Farmers have been committing suicide, colleges are rocked by disturbances, changes brought in laws governing universities and attacks are being made against Opposition activists,” he alleged.
He expressed concern at farmers choosing the path of suicide after failing to sell their crop at the right prices and demanded to know why the government had no procurement policy which could have improved the public distribution system.
“This reflects not only in the Central policies which have resulted in the agrarian crisis, but also a gross failure of the state government to put in place a procurement machinery to purchase crops from farmers,” said Mr Bhattacharjee. He also alleged that the Trinamul-led government was making frivolous expenditure while failing to pay salaries of employees citing lack of funds. “The government is giving grants to clubs, but is not paying salaries to the transport department and other employees. The government is claiming lack of funds, but it is making frivolous expenditure,” Mr Bhattacharjee said.
Alleging that the present dispensation stopped government dole of Rs 1,500 to workers in closed tea gardens leading to starvation deaths, Mr Bhattacharjee said: “The government is claiming it has no money as we made the state bankrupt. But we had not stopped doles and subsidies.” Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra claimed that 31 farmers committed suicide because of poverty. The CPI-M state secretary and Left Front chairman, Mr Biman Bose, accused the Trinamul Congress of having hobnobbed with Maoists in Junglemahal.
Reaction to the charges, state urban development minister Firhad Hakim said Mr Bose and Mr Bhattacharya were trying to create tension in Junglemahal to hamper the development work initiated by the chief minister.
“Mr Bose said that law and order in the state has deteriorated, but during the Left Front rule Anita Dewan was raped and murdered, scores of dacoity and murders took place,” he said.

Allies on a warpath in Kharagpur civic body

31 January 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 31 JAN: At a time when relations between the Trinamul Congress and the Congress are going through rough weather over various issues, the strained ties between the two allies have come to the fore in the Kharagpur civic body in West Midnapore district.
The Congress has threatened to withdraw support from the Trinamul Congress-led municipal board over favouritism to some contractors. The Mamata Banerjee-led party, however, refused to budge. District Trinamul Congress leaders said if the Congress withdraws its support in Kharagpur, they will follow suit in the 18 municipalities where the Congress is in power with Trinamul support.
The Trinamul Congress chairman of Kharagpur civic body, Jawahar Paul, has refused to step down from his post saying "he is ready to face a no-confidence motion". "The Congress councillors have reached an understanding with the CPI-M. They are conspiring to dislodge the board for sometime now. They have brought corruption charges against us," said Mr Paul.
He, however, said the 19-month-old board has been working in a transparent manner. "As Miss Mamata Banerjee has nominated me, I will not quit until she asks me to do so," said Mr Paul. The problem started a few months ago, when a few Congress councillors raised fingers at the chairman for favouring some contractors who belong to the Trinamul Congress.
Mr Rabi Sankar Pandey, a Congress councillor and former chairman of the Kharagpur civic body, said: “We have not yet taken a final call on the no-confidence motion. The local party unit has decided so. Now we are waiting for the final decision from the Pradesh Congress committee."
Mr Pandey said: “The Trinamul-led board is involved in corrupt practices while purchasing essential equipment. Tractors are being purchased with sanction, electrical equipment are being bought for more than their printed price and Rs 14 lakh is being spent on a boundary wall around a vacant field.”
The Congress members alleged corruption by the board as the reason behind the withdrawal of support. Two CPI-M councillors ~ Venkat Ramnath (ward no. 13) and B Murli Rao (ward no. 15) ~ and Independent councillor Satya Deo Sharma (ward no 19), have defected from their parties and joined the Congress. “Out of 35 seats, Congress bagged 12, while Trinamul had 14 seats. After the defections, the Congress' tally reached 15 which is on a par with the Trinamul’s strength of 14 councillors, along with an Independent.
As the CPI-M still has one councillor, CPI three and the BJP one, there is a clear absence of majority which has pushed the Congress to rethink its decision," said a municipality official.