The old factory building where the implements used to be made. Picture by Vivek Singh

Kurseong, May 30: The grass on the walls and the broken windowpanes speak nothing of the good old times of the sixties and the seventies.

Cutlery Servicing Station, 2 km from here, had seen better days when it used to do brisk business. For more than two decades, it had supplied garden implements to the estates dotting the hills. But now there are no takers for the factory that was set up by the state government in 1960.

For the 13 staff members, who were then employed at the station, the hope of a revival is yet to die though different state government departments have absorbed them. Narendra Poddar is one of them who wishes that the ?busy-seventies? are back.

?But we know that will not happen. Efforts were made to start the factory after it was handed over to the DGHC by the councillor in charge of the industry department then, but to no avail. After that, we got no intimation of the factory reopening,? said Poddar, who is currently the industrial development officer of Darjeeling Industrial Centre (DIC). The station is under the supervision of the DIC. Recounting the days, when there was a huge demand for the implements that were manufactured at the station, Poddar said: ?Tea gardens from all over the hills used to purchase spades, knifes and scissors from here. The forest department also used to order several implements. At that time, the staff used to work from 9 am till 10 pm,? said Poddar.

In 1974, the government handed over the station to a Calcutta-based company, Westinghouse Saxby and Farmer Limited, along with its staff.

?We do not know the exact reason as to why the government handed over the station. Even after the company took over, the demand for the implements did not drop. It was running smoothly till 1979,? Poddar added.

The station went back to the government in 1981 after it remained closed for three years from 1979. ?From then onwards, it is still closed,? said Poddar.

The factory still has some of the implements, which according to a guard posted there, have gathered rust and are of no use. Similar is the condition of the machine used to manufacture the implements.