BSNL mela 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 13: “BSNL Revolution Mela” will be held from 16 August to 19 August at Cooch Behar. The fair will be organised by the BSNL, Cooch Behar at the office premises of the telecom district manager. Exhibition, demonstration of BSNL products, services and sale and cultural programme will be held during the fair days. On the otherhand, Gunjabari Telephone Exchange with 2,000 lines will be inaugurated on 14 August, according to the TDM Mr MK Seth. [] 

Golden jubilee 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 13: Yearlong Golden Jubilee celebration of Khagrabari Harendra Chandra Vidyamandir (High) of Cooch Behar will start on 16 August. The three-day inaugural programme will be concluded on 18 August. 

Cooch Behar (North) MLA Mr Dipak Sarkar will inaugurate the morning procession on 16 August and the blood donation camp on 18 August. State forest minister Mr Ananta Roy will inaugurate the cultural programme on 18 August. A competitive painting programme on voluntary blood donation will be held on 17 August. Football match, seminar, quiz competition and documentary film show will also be organised on the occasion. [] 

4-lane expressway 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 13: Cooch Behar district unit of the Trinamul Congress expressed its displeasure over the alignment of the proposed four-lane expressway through the Dooars. The ecological balance of this region may be disturbed if the expressway goes through the forests of the Dooars, it opined. 

In a letter addressed to the Union road transport and national highways minister Mr TR Baloo, the president of Cooch Behar District Trinamul Congress Mr Rabindra Nath Ghosh mentioned that due to the presence of the railway track through the Dooars a number of elephants and other wild animals had to die by the speeding trains. Already a large number of wild animals including elephants left the Dooars forests and went to the forests in Bhutan. The new four-lane expressway may increase the exodus of the wildlife, he opined. 

Mr Ghosh said that they chalked out an alternate alignment for the proposed four-lane expressway. The road may go through Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Maynaguri, Dhupguri, Falakata, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, Tufanganj and Baxirhat to Bilasipara in Assam along the existing National Highway-31. This route plan will be beneficial for a large section of people of this region and the forests and wildlife will not be disturbed anymore, he hoped. 

The Trinamul Congress leader questioned the role of the MLAs and MPs of the Left Front over the issue. They should come out in the interest of Cooch Behar and its people, he said. Mr Ghosh reiterated that the proposed expressway would be beneficial for the people if it goes through Cooch Behar. If the road goes through the Dooars and the forests it will not be able to bring any good to the people but will be harmful to the ecological balance of this region, he opined. []