How often have we heard the term Kanchi Ama ko Chora being used in reference to the treatment that the Hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong gets from the State and Center Governments. Kanchi Ama ko Chora is a term which in English means “Step motherly treatment”.
The Teesta Rangeet Rescue Centre (TRRC) volunteers have been playing an important role in rescuing those who face crisis in the Teesta river. In the lack of proper Civil Defence, and other government Rescue Organisations, TRRC has emerged as one of the most important bodies that has been providing rescuing people during natural disasters in the region.
Appreciating their efforts, Kalimpong SP Aparajita Rai, who is herself a daughter of the hills of Sikkim, sponsored a threee day training program conducted by the International Technical Rescue Association (ITRA), for them.
Teesta has massive siltation level, thus it is certain that the siltation level of the river will raise staggeringly with the construction of a series of dams and the sediment load will be trapped within the reservoirs, reducing their production capacity. This, in turn, could compel dam managers to release water during heavy rainfall, causing sudden flash floods downstream. Further, the NHPC has failed to undertake the study on the cascading effects of Dams (i.e. in case of dam breaking at the top what will happen to subsequent dams), which is likely to occur in coming days.
This Toy Train, a wonder of engineering, was set up mainly to cater to the then blooming Tibet trade through Jelep-la for which Kalimpong was the most important entrepot. One can say that the existence of The Teesta Valley Branch of the DHR coincided with the golden period of Kalimpong’s past.
Darjeeling MP Raju Bista on Friday wanted to know from Union minister for Jal shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat what considerations have been made by his ministry regarding the cascading effects of dams on river Teesta.
As 13 of us from St. Philos were dancing under the storming rain in the Khasi hills of Cherrapunji highest rainfall with the precipitation 26411mm…
At the age of 16 she swam across the raging torrents of river Teesta, today Ms. Shanti Rai is a Rafting and Rescue expert, avid nature lover and a deeply passionate social worker. While our community is indeed very progressive, there are still many a fields that are viewed as being the sole domain of men, exploding into one such field was Shanti Rai – the first female Rafting and Rescue expert from our community, and perhaps in the country too.
My younger brother who also stays in another city shared the link of Bipul Chettri’s “Teesta” with me stating “tero buhari le pathako – your younger sister-in-law shared”. As soon as I heard the song, I in my imagination, rushed back home, to a place where my brother and I share the same meal of Gundruk and Bhaat in the evening where pine trees in the hills of Delo or Tigerhill sway to the winds of Chaita.
तर्कमान – Tarkaman: आज लगभग पाँच-छ बर्षपछी विशेष अवसरमा केवेन्टियर्स पस्दैछु। म अनि मेरो लङ्गुटिया मित्र प्रकाश लाई भेट्न हामी सितै कलेज पढेको अतिप्रीय मित्र…
“Ḍārjīliṅa pahāḍaharū tapā’īnlā’ī kala gardai”… (Darjeeling hills calling you) The delicate voice broke a little into molten strands of lapis lazuli As the road to…