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The forest that lay between Bhooteachang and Tangla was
populated by tigers and herds of elephants, and the person
driving a bullock cart carrying tea to Kalaigaon and
Singrimari T.E. through the forest path would quite often
be attacked by tigers. In fact, there was a particular area
where such incidents frequently occurred, and this was
christened ‘Baaghe Khowa’ (‘Tiger Bitten’ or ‘Tiger
Eaten’). After suffering many casualties, the Company
decided to build a factory on the estate and commissioned
engineers from Calcutta to do so in 1897. However, after
about a year of having their colleagues attacked by tigers,
the engineers all returned to Calcutta. Fortunately, some
of the workers had learnt to run the factory machinery by
then, one of them being Jhondhe Kheria who became the
first Generator Operator.
Although tiger
attacks are a
thing of the past
now, herds of
elephants from
the Khalingduar
forest are still
regular visitors
to the estate, and
sometimes cause a great deal of damage. Many ways and
means have been explored to keep these mammoths away,
but to no avail. In 2011 the estate’s workers, along with
the residents of the neighbouring estates and villages, got
together and decided to leave food (mostly truckloads of
bananas) at the edge of the forest for the elephants,
hoping that this would stop them from coming to the
villages and tea estates looking for food. In 2014,
Bhootechang
was
felicitated for its
concerted efforts at
elephant conservation
by ‘Elephants on
Line’, an initiative by
the University of
North Carolina, USA,
to preserve these
animals from man-
animal conflicts.
Other creatures that may stray into the estate from time
to time – such as snakes or baby hares – are rescued and
handed over to the proper authorities for rehabilitation.
It was Jhonde Kheria,
the first Generator
Operator,
who
is
believed to have planted
the Ficus Robusta inside the factory compound in 1901.
A huge gong dating back to around 1935 used to be tied
to the tree.This would be struck to announce the ‘kamjari’
timings before the advent of the siren.
06 July 2016
Ficus Robusta