Darjeeling

The interlocutor's Darjeeling visit is in limbo amid CM's objections, leaving Gorkha political demands unresolved

The recent flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in north Bengal have caused massive destruction in at least 30-35 tea gardens in Darjeeling, with reports of loss of plantation areas, deaths of workers and damage to houses of labourers, prompting planters to convene a meeting to assess the situation, stakeholders said. Darjeeling tea planters are now collecting data related to damage from the gardens and will discuss various issues during a proposed meeting on Thursday, they said. Tea bushes in many gardens have been washed away, while the loss of tea-bearing land has left permanent damage to several estates, planters said. SS Bagaria, chairman of the Bagaria Group, which owns three gardens in Darjeeling, told PTI that the industry's overall loss due to heavy rain and landslides in the hills could be at least Rs 50 crore. "Heavy rain and landslides have severely hit tea gardens in the hills, with reports of loss of lives and extensive damage to property. There was no

Information from the tea belt is still trickling in, but industry officials say bushes have been lost in certain gardens, and infrastructure has sustained damage

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives caused by the heavy rains and landslides

West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Monday cut short his personal visit to Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and rushed to landslide-hit Darjeeling, a senior official said. The toll in the devastating landslides in Darjeeling district has risen to 24, as disaster management personnel continued rescue operations on Monday, with several people still missing and thousands of tourists stranded in cut-off hill pockets. Bose would supervise the rescue operations and talk to the affected people, he said. "Governor Bose has flown back from Tirupati this morning and is heading towards Darjeeling. He will be visiting the landslide-affected areas in Mirik and supervising the rescue and rehabilitation efforts," the Raj Bhavan official told PTI. The governor is also coordinating with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and taking regular updates regarding the situation in Darjeeling, he said. Bose will also submit a report in the evening with specific recommendations to the competent .

At least 23 people, including children, were killed as relentless rain triggered one of the worst landslides in a decade in Darjeeling hills and adjoining areas on Sunday, sweeping away homes, cutting off roads, isolating villages, and leaving hundreds of stranded tourists amid widespread devastation, officials said. According to reports compiled by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the West Bengal's Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri district administrations, fatalities were reported from several locations - Sarsaly, Jasbirgaon, Mirik Basti, Dhar Gaon (Mechi), Mirik Lake area and the Nagrakata area in Jalpaiguri district. According to the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), a total of 18 people have died in Darjeeling, with 11 fatalities in Mirik, the worst-hit area, and seven more in the Darjeeling subdivision, including Jorebunglow, Sukia Pokhri, and Sadar Police Station areas. In a separate rescue operation in Nagrakata, located in the nearby Jalpaiguri district, five

Several people are feared dead following landslides in parts of Mirik in Darjeeling district due to incessant heavy rain, a senior police officer said on Sunday. The official said that rescue and relief operations are currently underway, with local administration, police, and disaster response teams rushing to the spot. "Several casualties are feared due to a major landslide in Darjeeling district triggered by heavy rainfall since last night. We don't have the exact figures right now as the rescue and relief work has just started," the officer told PTI. Unconfirmed reports claimed 11 people have died in the landslide. The officer added that continuous rainfall has made it difficult for earthmovers and emergency vehicles to reach the affected site. "The terrain is slippery and there are reports of several houses being damaged. The extent of damage is yet to be ascertained," he said. According to preliminary information, the landslide occurred near one of the hill slopes on the ...

Kavach is an automated train protection safety system designed to prevent collisions on the same track. The Railway Ministry is working on its installation on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes

Kanchanjunga train crash updates: As many as 10 people, including the driver of the goods train died in the accident, which took place near New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal

Kanchanjunga train crash: As many as 15 people died while 60 were injured after a goods train rammed the Kanchanjunga Express from behind in West Bengal's Darjeeling on Monday

Three compartments of the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express derailed after being hit by a goods train from behind in West Bengal's Darjeeling on Monday, killing 15 people

West Bengal train collision: The 13174 Kanchanjunga Express from Agartala collided with the goods train near Rangapani close to New Jalpaiguri station in West Bengal

Darjeeling goes to vote on April 26 in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections alongside Balurghat and Raiganj. All three in North Bengal are BJP seats

Special joyrides will be organised on Darjeeling toy trains during the festive season beginning with Durga Puja, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said on Saturday. The joyrides will be organised between Darjeeling and Ghum railway stations of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), NFR spokesperson Sabyasachi De said. He said that four diesel joyride services will operate daily between the two stations from October 13 to January 5 next year, during which heavy tourist inflows to the hill station are witnessed. The first train of the day will depart Darjeeling at 9.20 am and reach Ghum at 10.05 am. The final train of the day will leave Darjeeling at 3.30 am and reach Ghum at 4.15 pm, commencing its return journey at 4.35 pm to reach Darjeeling at 5.05 pm. The toy trains will have three first class chair car coaches, with a total of 89 seats.

Tea major Goodricke Group Ltd, a part of the UK-based Camellia Plc, is hoping to return in black this fiscal and looking to diversify into the hospitality sector with an aim at offsetting its losses in the plantation business in Darjeeling, Managing Director and CEO Atul Asthana said. The company, however, is expecting a flat growth in tea production this year to around 32 million kgs, including the output of its three subsidiaries, and is likely to witness a de-growth in revenue in the current fiscal as "subdued tea prices" remain a concern for it, he said. The group will look for acquisitions of gardens in Assam in near future, particularly after the industry gets rid of the "current difficult phase", he said. "The Goodricke and its subsidiaries together annually produce around 30 million kgs. There will be a flat growth this year as output is expected to be 32 million kgs. The revenue of the group as a whole was around Rs 1,200 crore last year but we may witness a de-growth in ..

The indefinite sit-in demonstration outside Raj Bhavan by TMC activists led by senior leader Abhishek Banerjee entered the third day with protesters asserting their stir will continue till Governor C V Ananda Bose meets them at the protest site even as a team of agitators will call on him in Darjeeling on Saturday. Raj Bhavan sources said Bose has agreed to meet the delegation in Darjeeling's Gubernatorial Mansion at 5.30 pm after receiving an email request from TMC leader Derek O'Brien. The governor's decision to meet the delegation comes in the wake of the TMC sit-in led by Banerjee demanding the release of West Bengal's MGNREGA dues by the Centre and demanding an audience with Bose. Banerjee, the TMC national general secretary, however, said that the stir will continue till Bose meets the agitators at the protest site outside the Raj Bhavan. Banerjee said the TMC's three-member delegation would consist of state Panchayat Minister Pradip Mazumdar and Lok Sabha MPs Kalyan Banerjee

According to Dr Chatterjee, there is an urgent need for attention from policymakers regarding the significant pollution load experienced in Darjeeling

Preparations are in full swing in West Bengal's Darjeeling district for the 2nd Tourism Working Group Meeting of G20, which will begin on April 1, officials said on Sunday. At the first meeting held in Gujarat's Kachchh in February, five priorities were identified for the sector -- green tourism, digitalisation, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination management. At the second meeting in Darjeeling, representatives of G20 countries, invitee nations and international organisations will be discussing deeper aspects of the five priorities, they said. The Tourism Ministry will also host a side event on 'adventure tourism as a vehicle for achieving Sustainable Development Goals'. All the Northeastern states will make presentations at the event, they added. A full-day programme has also been organised for the domestic tourism industry, and the states to deliberate on adventure tourism, officials said. The delegates will be staying at a resort in New Chumta Tea Garden in Siliguri, where all

Figure is even marginally lower than in 2020, when a nationwide lockdown was imposed to contain Covid-19; Tea Board chief says output has gone down because due to old bushes

Darjeeling tea with its bright metallic colour was the first product of the country to be awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) trademark in 2004