Environmental Hazard of Tea garden belt in Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal
Literacy:
Literacy is one of the prime factors of human interference hazard and creating awareness. Health and literacy both are complementary step for better future. But unfortunately literacy rate is very poor in the tea garden area compare to the district. In 2001 census literacy rate is 63.62% in whole district where as 37.48% in tea garden area. Illiterate people do not know how to combat with the hazard. To tell of the backwardness of the tea garden people the incidence of witch-hunting is still on these days of 21st century. Even in this year of 2002 several cases occurred, of which two cases one at Kalchini block and other at Kilkot tea garden in Matiali block get the headlines of the newspapers. Lack of Awareness: Being a backward district Jalpaiguri is confronted with a very major social problem which is a great concern for the programmed of eradication water-borne diseases like malaria, Diarrhoea. The entire problem is alarming in this region due to lack of awareness about their health. The rural families, majority of whom are living under the poverty line, they are aware about their sanitation. As per the 1991 census report, only 24.96% of the households in Jalpaiguri have access to toilets. In the tea garden areas, this figures is such at 10.43% Poverty of the Tea Garden belt area: More than 70% of the total populations in Tea garden area are working as daily-labourer. The percentage of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families have decreased from 62.01(1997) to 59.53 (2002) in all over the district. But the percentage of BPL families in Tea Garden area is 67.07%.Tea garden labourer gets minimum wage in relation to labourers of other spheres. The feudalistic character of tea garden management still treats them as their bonded labours. The amenities are to be provided as per rule to the labours which is absent in almost all tea gardens. The development and living-standard of the people of village of West Bengal is induced by Panchayeti Raj since 1978 but the tea garden people were deprived. Since 1997 the tea gardens were brought under Panchayet system. But Panchayet could not provide any development or make any expenditure for the betterment of the people, as the tea gardens are bind by Tea-Plantation Act. The contradiction of the two rules i.e. T.P.Act and the Panchayeti system if not resolved immediately, no development of the tea garden people and their spouses can be achieved, which ultimately may lead to a regional imbalance even within the district. Table: 1
When the hazard zonation map, hydrological map (Water quality, ground water level), land use map, socio-economic (literacy, Poverty) map and health condition map are input to a GIS and then an overlay is performed by giving weights and ranks to the various factors (Fig 2). The result of the overlay would give us areas where the precaution and awareness should be created, on what acute problem, to what level, its intensity and the type of solution that can be best used. Thus such a solution program can be compared with an other solution program, if any, conducted earlier. This would help us estimated the success and make any alteration in the solution of the ‘Acute problem’ of the area. 
Conclusion: The Jalpaiguri district exhibits different pattern geomorphological, hydrological and physical set up of the Quaternary terrain comprising the interfluves area of the Mahananda, Teesta, Torsha, Jaldhaka, Sankosh and other rivers provide evidences of parallel transverse faults. The neotectonic movement controls the drainage pattern, topography and groundwater. GIS has been utilized in the storage and retrieval of attribute spatial and non-spatial data such as land use, soil, water quality, socio-economic, and health condition of district. Natural resource is the heart of the district but which is faces the problem by the natural and large scale human induced activity and its consequential hazards such as deforestation, flooding though frequently river shifting, soil erosion and degrade of water resource system due to intensive used of chemical fertilizers and pesticides of tea garden belts for increasing production. The various chemical parameter of water quality shows abnormality in surface and sub- surface water in monsoon periods rather than others seasons which effect falls in the heath conditions of tea garden belts. Low literacy, poverty and lack of awareness are indirectly caused of the poor condition of health of tea garden belts. Integrated thematic maps with spatial and non-spatial data help the planner and decision maker to take special attention which areas are appropriate to set up adult education centre or Public Health Centre to increase or improve the literacy rate or health condition and safe drinking facility. From the foregoing details of different thematic layer with spatial and non-spatial in different aspects is apparent that a comprehensive methodology will be necessary for environment development, which is the bed- rock of development for the whole country. Reference:
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