DOOARS - GEOGRAPHY
News: Death and distress in Bengal’s Dooars tea gardens
What's in the news?
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This year marks 150 years of tea production in the
Dooars area, as the first tea plantations in the region were set up in 1874, a
few decades after Darjeeling.
Key takeaways:
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As per the Paschim Banga Cha Majoor Samity (PBCMS),
a trade union representing tea estate workers, of the 150 big tea gardens, 18
are closed.
Dooars:
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They are the alluvial
floodplains in northeastern India that lie south of the outer foothills of the
Himalayas and Brahmaputra plain.
Location:
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This region is about 30 km wide and stretches over
about 350 km from the Teesta River in West Bengal to the Dhansiri River in
Assam.
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The region forms the gateway to Bhutan, Sikkim and Eastern Nepal.
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There are 18 passages or gateways between the hills
in Bhutan and the plains in India.
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It is part of the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands
ecoregion
Types of Dooars:
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The Dooars region is divided by the Sankosh River into Eastern and Western
Dooars, consisting of an area of 880 sq.km .
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The Western Dooars are also known as the Bengal Dooars, and the Eastern Dooars
also as the Assam Dooars.
Significance of Dooars:
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The deep, well drained and fertile soil rich in the
humus of the Dooars has been used for the development of the tea plantations.
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The main industry of the Dooars region is the tea industry. Thousands of people are
engaged in the tea estates and factories.