TMC lady convenor against hawkers’ market at Chowrasta

Darjeeling, Sept. 11: A Trinamul Congress leader in the hills today said the proposed hawkers’ market should not be constructed at Chowrasta here, the first time anyone from the party had spoken against a project whose foundation had been laid by Mamata Banerjee.

Sharda Subba, the convenor of Darjeeling District Hill Trinamul Mahila Congress, said she was “speaking more as a resident of Darjeeling” than as a chief of the party’s women wing.

“I have joined politics to be able to speak for my place and personally, I, think that the hawkers’ market should not come up at Chowrasta,” Subba said.

The public works department wants to construct a three-storied building to house 42 shops at Chowrasta at a cost of Rs 27 lakh.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha as well as a section of residents in Darjeeling are against the project as they feel the structure would spoil the beauty of Chowrasta, the prominent promenade in the hill town.

Subba, however, said the market was conceptualised when the relations between the Morcha and the state government were good and the hill party had raised no objection then.

Source: The Telegraph