Workers stop an SSB vehicle at Doctor’s Kuthi. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Ramjhora Tea Estate, March 25: More than 300 workers of the closed Ramjhora tea garden today blocked two link roads of NH31C that lead to Bhutan demanding that their problems be addressed at the earliest. The blockade left more than 100 trucks and private vehicles stranded for six hours. However, ambulances were spared.

The workers of the estate, shut since 2002, have also issued an ultimatum of 15 days to the Jalpaiguri district administration. “If nothing is done to resolve our problems within a fortnight, we will block NH31C (which connects Siliguri to Assam) for an indefinite period,” said Ganpat Oraon, the secretary of the operations and management committee of Ramjhora.

The blockade at Doctor’s Kuthi, 70km from Alipurduar town, had started at 8.30am. Both the Birpara-Lankapara road connecting NH31C to Pagli Bhutan and the Birpara-Makrapara road linking the national highway to Gomtu in the Himalayan Kingdom bifurcate from this spot.

The protesters had demanded a visit from the district magistrate, but lifted the blockade at 2.15pm when the joint block development officer of Madarihat-Birpara, Jitendra Tamang, reached the spot.

“We are tired of empty promises. Earlier, we had refrained from protests of this nature because of assurances from the administration. Many VIPs, including central minister Jairam Ramesh, visited our garden and said Ramjhora and Kanthalguri would be opened soon. But our condition remains the same. We have lost faith in peaceful movement,” said Oraon.

There were 1,103 workers in the garden when it shut down more than five years ago. Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi had visited the garden in March last year. He had asked Manohor Tirkey, the PWD minister of state, to arrange for drinking water and electricity for the workers.

Till today, power and potable drinking water haven’t arrived in Munda, Beech and New labour lines. Memorandums to the administration have failed to produce any results.

Last week, a delegation from the garden met additional district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, who told the workers about the initiatives being taken to open the estate.

Of the 13 closed gardens in the Dooars, the Bengal government has been entrusted with the responsibility of acquiring and reopening Kanthalguri and Ramjhora while the Centre has charge of the remaining 11.

The leases of the two gardens were cancelled after the owners failed to appear for tripartite meetings on a number of occasions.

“There were three bids for Kanthalguri but none for Ramjhora,” an administrative official of Jalpaiguri said.