Govt looks to rain to rein in hills unrest

The beleaguered administration in Darjeeling hoped to count on the heavens that opened up since Saturday morning to curb the violence in Darjeeling hills even as agitators set fire to two guest houses and a panchayat office on Sunday night.

A section of the officials felt the extent of agitation and vandalism would have been more but for the incessant rain since Sunday morning. The rains continued on Monday and the meteorological office in Kolkata has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in five districts of north Bengal over the next three to four days.

On an average, in the month of July alone, Darjeeling records about 750 mm of rain that is more than what Delhi receives in an entire monsoon (636 mm).

On Sunday and Monday, though some agitators came out on the streets carrying umbrellas, the size of the crowd was smaller compared to that on Saturday. The chief minister (Shivraj “Come rain or flood, our movement will continue,” said GJM assistant secretary Binay Tamang. On Sunday night, miscreants set fire to a guest house of Ramam hydel project at Lodhama, a forest guest house at Rishihat and a gram panchayat office at Pulungdung.

“Few outsiders, some of them armed, are roaming around the hills, destroying government property. Some locals are also offering them shelter,” district magistrate Joyoshi Dasgupta told HT.

Disputing the statement, Tamang claimed, “No outsider is involved in our movement.”

On Saturday, the hills lapsed back into the grip of violence as three persons were killed -- two in Darjeeling and one in Sonada, 20 km away from Darjeeling. Agitators turned the town into a virtual battle zone setting fire to police booths, police station, a toy train rail station (at Sonada), government offices and fighting pitched battles with the security forces. Several police and CRPF personnel were injured in the clashes.