The management has announced the suspension of work in a tea garden in Alipurduar district, alleging lawlessness and illegal activities by anti-social elements on the plantation.

The management of Jaybirpara tea estate, which employs 450 workers, announced the suspension of work — an unusual decision during the peak production season — on Sunday evening.

The garden is in Birpara-Madarihat block and around 60km from here.

In the notice, the management said it had been pushed to the “point of no return”
because of a series of “destructive and anti-management” activities carried out for
the past two months by a section of “unscrupulous elements”.

The management alleged that tea bushes were being cut illegally, shade trees felled unlawfully, and fencing posts, goat-proof fences and aluminium pipes used for irrigation were being stolen.

“The management has tried to regulate the damaging and destructive activities, but the alleged antisocial individuals, on occasion, have also threatened the management. This is the situation prevailing in the garden for the last few months, which has forced the management to shut the garden even if it is the peak season in the industry,” reads the notice.

Uttam Das, a leader of the Trinamul Cha Bagan Sramik Union, said the manager had informed him about the issues in the garden.

“They could have sought help from police and the administration to tackle the situation. Instead, they decided to close down the garden when tea production is at its peak. Unfortunately, workers have become jobless through no fault of their own," said the trade union leader.

Ram Avtar Sharma, secretary of the Dooars branch of the Indian Tea Planters’ Association, echoed the management.

“The management had no option other than to suspend work. Or else, who wants to bear losses during the peak production season? Unless these anti-social activities
stop in the garden, it is tough for the management to continue the operations,” said Sharma.

Officials of the district administration and the state labour department said the management had informed them about the problems and a meeting was scheduled for Monday to resolve the issues.

“On Friday, the management informed the administration about the problems, and a meeting was planned for today (Monday). But they announced the suspension of work yesterday. We will soon take steps to reopen the estate,” Amit Das, the assistant labour commissioner of Birpara, said on Monday.