In Bengal's wilting tea gardens, Adivasis live on edge

[Small Tea Growers - Related News]

The metal on the road has long worn off; tea bushes have grown seven feet high in the absence of pruning… It doesn’t need an expert to certify that Bandapani tea estate in Alipurduar district in North Bengal has been closed for years. This is only one of many closed gardens in the region. And trade unions say that of at least 361 starvation deaths in 2015, nearly 10 per cent are from Bandapani, in the foothills of Bhutan. But travel into the ‘Nepali line’, located at the farthest corner of the labour colony, and there is hardly any sign of stress.