In a recent development, Akhtar Ali, the former deputy superintendent of the state-run RG Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata and a key whistleblower in the financial irregularities case at the medical institute in the state, tendered his resignation on Monday.

The recent observation by West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose *”I can’t say Bengal is safe for women”* has raised a storm of concern and debate across the state. His statement, made in reply to journalists, has thrown open new debates on women’s safety, governance, and ground reality for women across rural and urban Bengal.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has sought compensations and further financial support at the Centre to reconstruct flood-affected North Bengal on charges that both Bhutan and the Centre have failed to address the crisis that has killed at least 32 people and displaced thousands of others.

The rolling tea gardens of North Bengal normally a vision of serenity with mist swirling over green slopes now speak of desperation today. Flash floods have devastated this peaceful landscape within days, leaving it a vision of ruin behind them, with shattered bushes, flooded roads, and thousands of nervous workers speculating what the morning would bring.

Queen of hill stations, Darjeeling is in the news for the wrong reasons. It has been pushed to the edge of a precipice owing to unsustainable development, climate change and lack of institutional will to remedy matters.

The gentle roar of Dooars’ rivers, the voice of life just a few years back, is a wail of despair today. As incessant heavy monsoon rains keep battering north Bengal foothills, the likes of Jaldhaka, Murti, and Torsa rivers have burst their banks, engulfing vast expanses of forest and tea plantations — and forcing wildlife to moan for safety.