In tea estate hot waters, Tiwari ropes in the Press

Owners of a tea garden in Dehra Dun that has fallen on bad days may rediscover its flavour when the N D Tiwari government finally takes a de...

Owners of a tea garden in Dehra Dun that has fallen on bad days may rediscover its flavour when the N D Tiwari government finally takes a decision on changing its land use.

But the government is not rushing into hot waters just like that. A colony for journalists will be developed first to test the waters.

‘Patrakarpura’ will come up on 100 bighas of Harbanswala tea estate, gifted by the owners, and the announcement is likely to be made on Republic Day by the Chief Minister himself. This was decided at a meeting chaired by information secretary N.N.Parsad on December 26.

A proposal from the District Magistrate, Dehra Dun, has been sent to Principal Secretary, Revenue, for land-use change. Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, both state government agencies, will be entrusted with the task of developing the land. Indira Haridyesh, Uttaranchal Minister for PWD and Information, told The Indian Express on phone from Haldwani that the colony would be coming up at the tea estate very soon. ‘‘The formalities for the project are in the final phase,’’ she added.

The tea estate — one of the largest and oldest tea gardens in Doon valley — is in a bad shape. Spread over an area of more than 3000 bighas, it produces a small quantity of green tea in patches from ill-maintained tea bushes. Lantana and other invasive weeds have taken over vast stretches of the tea garden.

The Kolkata-based owners have been trying for many years now to get the land-use pattern changed without any success. Once the colony for journalists is established, the land use of the rest of the tea garden will be changed in phases. In view of the acute shortage of accommodation in the city, the government has been facing a lot of pressure.