Alipurduar, Jan. 31.TT.: Electricity was restored to the labour quarters of the closed Dheklapara tea garden last night after 10 years, fuelling hopes that the new government might deliver on its most important promise of reopening the estate.
The lit homes were a bolt out of the blue for the workers who had lost all hope that power would ever return to the labour lines. They burst crackers and beat drums to celebrate the departure of darkness.
“We never imagined that electricity would be restored in the garden within 15 days of the minister’s visit. Although a few houses are yet to get the connection, Upper Line, Middle Line and Nich Line of the estate have been electrified,” said worker Swapan Samjhar.
During his visit to the estate on January 16, north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb had said dues of Rs 1.5 lakh were pending with the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd and he would make all efforts to clear them. Today, he said the power department had waived the dues.
With the restoration of electricity, the labourers hope that the minister will now deliver on his most important promise — the reopening of the estate. “Gautam Deb has done in seven months what the Left government couldn’t in nine years,” said Samjhar.
The estate was shut down in 2002.
Deb today iterated that he was leaving no stone unturned in his bid to reopen the estate. “The workers called me yesterday and said they were happy that power was back on the estate. But the reopening of the garden is my ultimate aim and I am trying for that,” he said over the phone from Calcutta.
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