Defying bandh, office work resumes in Mirik

Kolkata: In an act of defiance against the fatwa of indefinite bandh call still prevalent in Darjeeling, the Mirik Municipality decided to resume normal office work on Tuesday. Chairman of the municipality LB Rai distributed relief material to people who have been badly affected by heavy rains in the Hills.

"There has been heavy rain in North Bengal including Darjeeling and Mirik. Though there has been no inundation because of its hilly terrain but a number of houses have been damaged in the process. The people here have been suffering from lack of food due to the indefinite bandh that has been going on for over two months. We are all public representatives and we have to stand by the people who are suffering," Rai said.

He, along with his team of nine councillors, distributed relief material to a number of people in the area from the municipality building. "There is still a large number of people in different parts of the municipality where relief has not reached. We will now try to supply food and other relief materials to all the affected people," a councillor added.

The regular garbage disposal work under the municipality has been badly affected due to the bandh.

"We will now stress on cleanliness and continue to work for the common people and stand by them," Rai added.

In May 2017, the Trinamool Congress had created history by winning Mirik municipality in Darjeeling district. The TMC won six of the nine wards in Mirik, which has been a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) stronghold.

The TMC emerged as

the first mainstream political party to win an election

in the Hills in the last three decades — regional parties have held sway in the Hills for years.

"Special thanks to Mirik for reposing faith in us. We will work sincerely for you. After so many decades, we begin a new era in the Hills," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said after the win.

It was in March this year when Banerjee declared Mirik, earlier a block under Darjeeling district, as a new sub-division.

It is an important tourist destination and home to many endangered flora and fauna. It is located at 52 km northwest of Siliguri and 49 km south-southwest of Darjeeling town.