Contrasting scenes were witnessed in the Terai and Dooars tea belts on Monday as a tea estate in Terai, which was closed for over 100 days, reopened, and another garden in eastern Dooars closed down as the management declared suspension of work.

In Terai, the Tirrihannah tea estate, around 20km from Siliguri near Bagdogra, reopened based on a tripartite meeting held at the joint labour commissioner’s office here on Saturday. At the time of its closure over three months ago, it had around 1,200 workers.

In Alipurduar, the management of the Beech tea estate in Kalchini block of Alipurduar district, with 2,200 workers, served a notice on Monday suspending operations.

“The Tirrihannah garden reopened today (Monday). From tomorrow (Tuesday), regular activities will restart here,” said Parthapratim Chakraborty, the joint labour commissioner.

On November 10 last year, the management shut the Tirrihannah garden, alleging lawlessness and highhandedness of some leaders of Trinamul’s trade union.

Officials of the state labour department took the initiative to convene tripartite meetings to facilitate its reopening.

“A dispute cropped up last year over bonus. At the last meeting, the management agreed to clear the outstanding bonus (at 12 per cent) in two installments. Seven per cent will be paid by March 24 and five per cent by July 31,” said a source in the department.

Workers and the management signed an agreement, which led to the garden's reopening.

“It is good that the Tirrihannah garden has reopened. We expect full production at the start of the new season,” said an INTTUC leader based in Siliguri.

In Alipurduar on February 21, the manager and some other executives of the Beech tea garden were allegedly assaulted by some workers. Eventually, police rescued them.

The management issued a pre-lockout notice on February 22. On Sunday, a tripartite meeting was called at Dooarskanya, the district collectorate, where trade union leaders admitted they couldn't ensure the management's safety at the garden. "Hence, the management had no option but to announce the suspension of operations,” said Chinmoy Dhar, chairman of the north Bengal branch of the Tea Association of India.