However, Pandey agreed that if the garden owners did set up processing units it would create a lot of jobs, which the district of Cooch Behar desperately needed. He said that hardly any industry was being set up in the district and unemployment problem had reached a `critical' point.

A senior official of the agricultural department of Cooch Behar said that the department received applications for NOC from six companies -- Sublime Agro(Private) Ltd, Cooch Behar Agro Tea Estate Ltd, TI Global Ltd, Timisan Agro Tea Co, Dhunseri Tea & Industries Ltd and Doolong Tea Estate -- through the district land & land revenue officer.

He said that the principal agricultural officer (PAO), Cooch Behar, had already sent a report, along with the soil report of the soil conservation officer of Siliguri, which clearly indicated that the land applied for tea cultivation were all prime agricultural land and tea-growing could not be allowed in those lands.

The district deputy land & land revenue officer, N B Roy, said that the total area under tea cultivation in different parts of the district was over 584 acres and the total land occupied by the 12 tea companies in Cooch Behar was 16057.31 acres.

He said that the superintending engineer, Teesta Barrage Project, had sent in his clearance for gardens. However, the final NOC to the garden owners must wait for the directorate of agriculture's approval, he added. Meanwhile, a committee of members oflegislative assembly (MLAs) will visit Cooch Behar in the first week of January to assess the situation.