Ashok Kumar with the award at the estate office. Picture by Vivek Singh

Kurseong, May 17: A cup of cheer for Goomtee Tea Estate.

The fifth International Tea Award has been conferred on the garden for producing the best quality second flush tea in 2005. The honour, bestowed by the International Institute of Tea Science and Culture, New York, USA, was handed over to the management this morning.

“As we could not make it to the US, Sebastian Blackwith of the institute came down to our small village to give away the award. We do not have any particular name for the produce — we call it the second flush tea,” said Mahesh Maharishi, the general manager of the garden, situated at Mahanadi, 7 km from here. The award included a gold medal and a certificate of merit.

The 3,750-ft estate is one of the prime producers of Darjeeling Tea in the hills since 1899. The garden now has two divisions — the conventional part is spread over 307 acres of land and the organic portion on 229 acres.

“We are especially grateful to the 377 workers, who put in their best effort to produce the brew,” said Ashok Kumar, the managing director. “We also plan to increase the organic portion of the garden, which would be named Muscatel Valley.”

Green honour

Federation of Societies for Environmental Protection, an eco-watch group in Darjeeling, has received the Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra award for 2004-05 for conservation of hill forests and protection of endangered salamanders.

The award, which is being presented by the National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board under the Union environment and forest ministry, includes a citation, a scroll and a cash prize of Rs 1.25 lakh.