Forest top brass spat hits green drive

KOLKATA: The chief minister’s ambition to turn Bengal “greener” has gone for a toss with two top-notch bosses jostling for authority at the state forest department. The tug of war at the helm has paralysed the ground-level work to such an extent that the department is not even hopeful of achieving 40% of its afforestation target this year.

Hit by a decision-making deadlock, a majority of 500-odd nurseries across the state has not yet started working on seedlings. According to officials, the chance of survival of the saplings is slim unless they are four-month old. However, there are only three months to go before the annual afforestation programme in the state. Around 7 crore saplings are needed for a year’s afforestation programme, so the department is bound to fall short this year as work is yet to start on saplings and the stock is not encouraging either. In Kolkata alone, around 1 crore saplings are planted every year.

Senior forest department officials held the chaos and confusion in the state forest directorate responsible for this state of affairs. Since last year, there has been uncertainty over the command of the directorate. While Atanu Raha was made the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and head of the forest force (HoFF), his authority was challenged by the seniormost PCCF M A Sultan in Calcutta high court, which ruled in the latter’s favour.

Last month, Sultan was appointed the PCCF and the HoFF and Raha was relegated to the post of additional PCCF. However, within days the state government again elevated Raha to the PCCF post and transferred all power to him. Now, Sultan is the statutory head of the directorate without any power and Raha is all powerful without any statutory authority.

Sources in the forest department said there was complete lack of direction even before the fund for seedlings was up for distribution in October last year. Most divisional forest officers (DFOs), who directly supervise nurseries and timber harvesting, played safe. So, work at the grass-root level came to a complete standstill.

Afforestation is directly linked to harvesting of timber. This year, the Centre has approved harvesting of 10,000 hectares, which means there will be afforestation on 10,000 hectre. Timber harvesting is an important economic activity for people living in and around the forests who work in forest protection committees.

The situation was equally distressful last year, when the directorate could not achieve even 30% of timber harvesting because of delayed fund allocation. ABut the problem is that in course of time, there will be a lot of tree felling without compensatory plantation.

An official in the finance wing of the department admitted that afforestation might be affected unless corrective measures are taken. However, officers said not much could be done now as there’s hardly any time left for working on saplings.

Worse, this time, the government is changing the whole system of financial power in the directorate. From April, the government will issue letters of credit. So getting the fund in the first and second week of the month will be remote and the entire work will get stuck for paucity of funds. If the work gets stuck and saplings die, the DFOs will be held responsible. So they prefer inaction in this regard, said another officer.

Cash, jewellery worth Rs 8 lakhs looted

KOLKATA: A gang of four robbers broke into a New Garia shop and looted cash and jewellery worth Rs 8lakh on Saturday night. The goons carried on with the operations after gagging a security guardand looting nearly Rs eight-lakh worth of ornaments and cash. The shop owner has lodged a police complaint. This robbery is the latest among the crimes that rocked the city’s southeastern fringes this year.

The shop is located within the New Garia Cooperative Society Complex that is home to nearly 500 people, several among them retired and elderly. The incident, While the Purba Jadavpur police termed as “burglary” by the Purba Jadavpur police, has left several questions in its wake the entire locality jittery. Piecing together the events, it appears that the four persons had entered this complex through an alley adjacent to a bank branch, said police. The bank has an ATM too which is manned round-the-clock. It seems the robbers had first targeted the guard, assaulted him and later gagged and tied him up. With the guard overpowered, the robbers then entered the market place.

Amit Roy’s jewellery shop is very unassuming and is positioned second in the row. The robbers reportedly broke the shutter and cleaned up whatever they could lay their hands on. According to the complaint lodged by Roycomplaint to police, the robbers have stolen nearly 150 gm of gold, 3 kg of silver and Rs 5,000 in cash. Valuables and cash worth Rs 8 lakh were reported to be missing.

The New Garia Cooperative Society has private security facilities. The complex is manned round-the-clock. round the clock private security to man the entire complex.

However, the market place, inside the complex, is unmanned. The market which overlooks the Srinagar Road provides easy access to the complex anytime of the day, said police. Earlier, entry was restricted through a grill-gate which is now left open even at night.

“A few months back, the shop owners had even refused to avail of the security facility for the complex. They were not ready to shell out the money required to beef up security. But till now it has deterred any major such incident,” a local resident said.

Investigators, however, have found several loose ends in the account provided by the bank ATM guard. “He claims he was assaulted and then gagged. But police claim to have found no they didn’t find any

trace of it. The guard is being questioned,” an officer said. The officer also indicated that the robbers had a very specific tip-off. “The targeted shop isn’t big enough to draw attention. Also, it is shielded from the roadside. So the tip-off had to be specific. Moreover, over half of the 25-odd shops in the complex are closed,” he added.

The incident, however, has come as a shock to the residents, especially the elderly. “There were some instances of burglaries at homes before but that was about four to five years back. Some strong security measures have stopped these. However, robberies of this scale never took place here,” an elderly resident said.

Rising crime in added areas this year.

Jan 24 – Vidya Desai (40) was shot at in Kasba for resisting an attempt to snatch her mangalsutra.

Jan 29 – Five armed robbers break into a couple’s house in Kasba’s Purbalok locality and looted jewelry and cash worth Rs 1.5 lakh. The gang reportedly beat up the couple after they tried to resist.

Feb 11 – Gang of four robs a Kasba home. Assaults housewife and her minor child when they tried to resist.

March 7 – A 39-year-old woman found strangulated at her Patuli home.

March 10 – Am 18-year-old male found strangulated, the body dumped near Survey Park.

Kidnapped boy rescued, 2 held

MALDA: Two persons were arrested on Sunday in connection with the abduction of an 18-year-old boy. The boy was also rescued. Police are on the look out for others who are a part of the gang.

Avinandan Roy had gone missing from his house at Kalitola under English Bazaar police station on Saturday. TNNSome youths had come to his house and called out to him. He went along with them and did not return, police said.

It was learnt that some youths came to his house called him out in the morning. But he never returned.

Instead, the boy’s mother Suparna Saha started getting ransom calls. Suparna, a health worker, lodged a police complaint on Saturday night.

It is learnt that Saha’s parents were running a finance company and collected huge money from local people. But about a year back they escaped from Malda overnight without returning the money. Since then number of people were giving pressure on Saha for money. But Saha expressed her innocence about her parents. Saha said, “I have told them repeatedly that I knew nothing of my parents. Still they were threatening us.”

Yesterday, kidnapping of Avinandan was a part of this demand as feared. Since the afternoon phone calls demanding money was received by Saha. Even Avinandan too spoke with her mother informing the kidanappers’ demand.

Today, Saha at the suggestion of police had agreed to give the money and called them to meet her at a particular spot. When two youths came to meet her, the plain clothed police arrested them. Interrogating them Avinandan was rescued. One of them was identified as Ataul Sk. Police Super Jayanta Pal said, “We have arrested two youths and some more are being looked for. The boy was rescued and would be handed over to his parents after being produced to court.”

No child’s play this

They are fortunate enough to go to school and they want to ensure that other children too are not deprived of education. A bunch of schoolchildren used street theatre to spread the message at the Academy of Fine Arts on February 3.

Stepping into its fourth year, Bol Jamoore — a national street theatre festival organised by the Theatre Forum for Child Rights (TCFR) and Child Rights and You (CRY) — saw 13 children’s theatre groups from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal take part over five days.

The plays dealt with a range of issues — from deprived families sending their children to work instead of school to lack of basic amenities and denial of the midday meal to children beyond Class VIII.

Crisis by Kathok Performing Repertoire of Howrah, BhoBho KhoKho by Paridhi from Bhagalpur, Shei Je Holud Paakhi by Kismat Entertainment from Howrah, Ugta Sooraj by Sarjom from Jamshedpur and Mukti — a mime act by Chanchal Shee — were some of the plays staged. All the plays were scripted and staged by students of government schools with help from elders from their respective villages and towns.

“Hum chahte hain ki aise baccho ke mata pita unko school bheje aur padaye. (We want the parents of such children to send them to school and educate them),” said Jujhar Soren, who has been supervising the work of Sarjom for the past one-and-a-half years.

“The idea is to make people rise to the occasion and take a call. We seek to build a community of aware and motivated citizens to work towards a movement for child rights all across the country,” said Atindranath Das, regional director of CRY.

CHIT CHAT

Art fair

Apeejay Anand Children’s Library hosted Art Mela on the lawns of the Apeejay House on February 26. The event saw around 1,000 children from city schools and NGOs such as All Bengal Women’s Union, SOS Village, Hope Foundation, Cini Asha, Frank Anthony and FOCUS take part. The children painted on T-shirts and caps their interpretation of this year’s theme: “I am aware…So I care…For the Environment”. The winners got certificates of honour and gift hampers.

Fun day

The department of social work and National Service Scheme, St. Xavier’s College, organised a Shishu Mela for underprivileged children on the college grounds on February 5. Nearly 800 kids from rural areas of Paikhala, Devipur, Shalpukur, Gurap, Bolorampur and Ghostomath turned up for the event. There were games and food stalls for the children as well as a sit-and-draw competition. Post lunch, a cultural programme was organised. This was followed by a live band performance.

Buying a car? Snarl ahead – Rule for new models delays registration

You can beat the tax demon lurking in Pranab Mukherjee’s briefcase by buying your dream car before next Friday’s budget, but try beating the vehicle registration queue in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal.

A government that doesn’t seem to have a problem with the fleet of fume-spouting buses, taxis and autos on the road has suddenly made it mandatory for all new car models to be individually approved by the transport department, triggering a registration backlog that has had dealers and vehicle owners in a flap.

Doctor Chayan Ganguly had bought the top model of the Honda hatchback Brio on February 27 and was assured of delivery on March 11, only to learn a few days later that registration of the vehicle would be delayed. “I made the full payment on March 1 and my new car would have been home this Sunday. Then I hear that the registration of Brio’s top model has been stalled by the transport department,” he said.

An official of Eastern Honda said registration of the Brio’s top model had resumed but Ganguly isn’t sure he will receive his car within the next three days, as promised.

None of the Honda dealers in town would officially admit there’s a problem for fear of babudom striking back, but Metro found out that every car manufacturer that has come up with new models is being forced to delay delivery because of the new rule.

Customers and dealers of Maruti Suzuki, whose “all-new” Swift DZire is top of the pops in the entry-level sedan segment, have been affected the most. “As many as 200 DZire models are in the registration queue,” an official of one of the city dealers said.

Those opting for the new Tata Sumo Gold, Toyota Innova, Hyundai’s small car Eon or the Renault Pulse have been made to wait as well. “Our new-look Innova has the same engine, only some cosmetic changes have been made. We received the transport department’s approval on Wednesday evening. So the registration of new Innovas has just started,” said a city-based Toyota dealer.

Toyota’s delivery backlog in February was more than 60. Delivery of Hyundai and Nissan cars has been delayed by a week to 10 days, sources said.

A notarised copy of the original certificate issued by the Automobile Research Association of India (ARAI) needs to be appended to applications for approval of every new variant of a car.

“We have had to apply for approval of the E-Class 2CGI, which has had a change in engine configuration. Applications for all CBUs (complete built-up units) have to be submitted separately,” a spokesperson for Mercedes dealer Interkrafts said.

The ARAI certificate is based on “homologation”, or the process of finding out whether a car is roadworthy and matches the criteria laid down by the government for all vehicles made or imported into the country.

The state government’s decision to introduce a second line of certification means all new models — and multiple variants are launched for every model — would now be subject to scrutiny even if the alterations are only cosmetic.

“Registration of all new models came to a standstill in February, just when sales were picking up after a long lull. A processing delay is the last thing the car industry needs in these tough times,” said an official of an European carmaker.

But Maruti Suzuki’s regional manager Jatinder Dhindsa sees the new process as an antidote to corruption. “People were taking bribes to register old models. Even Euro III vehicles were being registered, but that has stopped now that each variant of a car needs approval,” he said.

Cops hurt in revelry clash

A police jeep was damaged and at least two policemen were hit with stones by residents of a Khardah colony protesting the arrest of two men in connection with forcibly splashing a woman with colours on Holi.

Police arrested the two after a recce of Sadhur More and Barishalpara in Khardah on Thursday morning following complaints of a clash between two groups of youths. A section of residents attacked the men in uniform and tried to free the arrested duo. Two constables sustained head injuries and the windscreen of a police jeep was smashed. Seven more people were arrested in connection with the violence. The trouble lingered till Friday afternoon.

An officer of Titagarh police station said some residents of Sadhur More had thrown coloured water on a woman on way home to Barishalpara on Thursday morning. “She narrated the incident to family members, who discussed it with neighbours. Some youths from Barishalpara later went to Sadhur More and demanded an explanation from those who had sprinkled water on the woman.”

A quarrel broke out that soon snowballed into a clash. About a hundred people from each locality joined in. “Some people hurled stones at our jeep and attacked our officers,” said D.N. Goswami, deputy commissioner of police (DD), Barrackpore. Men from adjacent police stations reached the spot and chased away the troublemakers.

Woman strangled

A woman who had been found dead in her flat in Garia on Wednesday had been strangled, post-mortem has revealed.

Sarmistha Lahiri, unmarried and in her late 30s, was found dead in her third-floor apartment by her mother who came to visit her.

“Strangulation marks were found on the victim’s neck. It seems someone strangled her with his hands,” said Biswarup Ghosh, the deputy commissioner of police, south suburban division.

The flat was not ransacked. “It seems robbery was not the motive,” said an officer. The killer could have been known to her, as there’s no evidence of a forced entry, he added.

Couple killed in car crash

A couple, on their way back from a Holi break in Digha, were killed when the Maruti Alto they were travelling in had a flat tyre and fell into a water body on Friday. Three relatives, who were in the rear seat, escaped with minor injuries.

Shambhu Mondal, 50, and wife Namita, 45, residents of Belur, left for Mandarmani and Digha with Namita’s sister Sabita Mondal, her husband Asit Mondal and Namita’s brother Shantinath Naskar on Thursday. “Three of them had come to our home from Sankrail on Holi and planned a trip on the spot,” said the couple’s daughter Sumona, who appears for Higher Secondary this year.

“The accident took place around 4pm at Thakurnagar, 160km from Calcutta. The car was in the lane on the extreme right when the right front tyre burst. The car swerved left and fell into a water body,” said Indrajit Roy, sub-divisional officer of Contai.

Locals opened the rear doors of the car and rescued Sabita, Asit and Shantinath but the front doors were jammed. Shambhu and Namita could be taken out only after the car was pulled out. They were taken to a nursing home, where they were declared dead.

The City Diary

Burglars arrested
Six men were arrested on Friday for two robberies at Mathpara in Khardah last Sunday. Four of the arrested were picked up from near Sodepur and the rest from Barrackpore. A gold chain, six silver utensils and Rs 12,500, a part of the Rs 80,000 booty the gang had taken from the homes of two traders, were recovered. A 9mm pistol and some ammunition were also found on them.

AMRI bail
The bail petition of Satyabrata Upadhyay, senior vice-president (projects) and head of the safety committee of AMRI Hospitals, Dhakuria, could not be heard on Friday at a district and sessions court in Alipore as defence counsel Milan Mukherjee was out of station. Judge Anindya Bhattacharjee has fixed March 16 as the next date of hearing .

Civic budget
Mayor Sovan Chatterjee will place the Trinamul Congress-run civic board’s third budget on Saturday. The focus, civic officials said, will be on the beautification of the city.

Accident
A school bus ran over a pedestrian on AJC Bose Road around 1.30pm on Friday. The injured, Sahabuddin, 50, was taken to SSKM Hospital in an unconscious state.