Siliguri

Siliguri

Siliguri
Siliguri Siliguri
	Location of Siliguri
Government
• Mayor	MR. MUNSHI NURUL ISLAM
Population (2001)
• Total	470,275
Website	www.siliguri.com
	1The coordinates given here are in metric system and based upon the Microsoft Encarta Reference Library Map Center 2005 2 The Vehicle Code given here based upon the Siliguri Sub Divisional Court documentations.

Siliguri pronunciation^ⓘ Template:Lang-bn Template:Lang-ne is a rapidly developing metropolis in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck — a very narrow strip of land linking mainland India to its north eastern states. It is also the transit point for air, road and rail traffic to the neighboring countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The town hosts over 500,000 domestic and 15,000 foreign visitors annually. It is the commercial nerve center of North Bengal.

Siliguri is situated in Darjeeling district, and though it is the district's largest city, the district headquarters is located at Darjeeling. Siliguri is a unique city as 15 out of 47 wards of Siliguri Municipal Corporation falls in neighbouring Jalpaiguri district. The Indian army, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Shashatra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Assam Rifles have bases around the town. The Bagdogra Airport is located within the Indian Air Force (IAF) cantonment area. Siliguri has an Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC) oil depot near the southern edge of the town. Siliguri is the second largest city of West Bengal after Kolkata.

Geography

Siliguri is situated at the base of the Himalaya mountains in the plains. It is the largest city in the area (North Bengal) and second largest city in West Bengal and connects the hill station towns of Gangtok, Rangpo, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik and Darjeeling with the rest of India. The Mahananda River flows past Siliguri. Siliguri has three main seasons summer, winter and monsoon. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 35°C.It is considerably cooler than the southern and central regions of West Bengal. During this season, tourists from all over India and from around the world stop in Siliguri en route to the cooler climes of the northern hill stations. Winters are relatively cool and temperatures range from a high of 15°C to a low of about 3°C. Light rain and dense fog are seen during this season. During the monsoon season between June and September, the town is lashed by heavy rains often cutting access to the hill stations and Sikkim. The climate is suitable for growing tea and the surrounding region has many tea gardens. The ancient Baikunthapur Forest is nearby. The region is also a huge producer of Tea. Siliguri is one of the fastest growing cities of India.

Economy

Siliguri is described as the gateway to the North East of India. The strategic location of the city makes it a base for essential supplies to the region. Siliguri has gradually developed as a profitable centre for a variety of businesses. As a central hub, many national companies and organizations have set up their offices here. Recently a number of movie-multiplexes are being planned to be opened in Siliguri. The Hong Kong market located here is a chief hub for buying low cost Chinese goods and imported goods, nearby Seth Srilal Market, Sevoke Road and Hill Cart Road is a prominent place to buy daily use goods, and is very popular among people from nearby areas. 4 "T" s - Tea, Timber, Tourism and Transport are the main businesses of Siliguri. Recently many hotels had mushroomed up & a very good increment had been seen in this sector at past. Siliguri is the headquarters of FOCIN (Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of North Bengal). The latest development is the mushrooming of shopping malls in the city, though multiplexes are yet to arrive. Some popular shopping malls are the Cosmos, City Style, Sun Flower situated on Sevoke road and Vishal Mega Mart on the Burdwan road and water kingdom park in dagapur.

The rapidly growing city also has showrooms of numerous automobile companies such as Maruti Suzuki, Honda Siel, Toyota Kirloskar, Ford, Tata, Jcb, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai, General Motors. There are numerous two wheeler showrooms also of companies : Hero Honda, Kinetic, Honda scooters, Yamaha, Tvs Suzuki, Bajaj, LML.

With the growing economic transactions there has opened up some major banks in the city namely Standard Chartered, HDFC, ICICI, Allahabad, State Bank of India, UTI, UCO, Vijaya, IDBI and UBKG bank. There are also some other banks such as Bank of Maharastra, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Karnatake bank, Andhra Bank, Sonali Bank.

In a recent gesture of internationally co-operative and friendly country the road network of Siliguri is being used by the government of Nepal and Bangladesh so as to facilitate the transportation of rice and other necessary and urgent commodities. The Silk Route of India i.e trade route between India and China is accessible only after crossing Siliguri. Thus making it important for international trade between India and other countries and also among other countries.

Politics

Siliguri assembly constituency is part of Darjeeling (Lok Sabha constituency)The present Member of Parliament is Jaswant Singh.^[1]

Prof. Bikash Ghosh of CPI(M) was in his 3rd term as the Mayor of Siliguri when he died of a heart attack on November 25th, 2008.^[2]. Currently Munsi Nurul Islam has acceded to the post of Mayor of Siliguri.

Demographics

Siliguri is experiencing a rapid expansion of its population. In a 2001 India census,^[3] the number of residents was 1,220,275. According to estimates for 2008, 1,559,275 people live in the city.^[4]. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Siliguri has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 65%. In Siliguri, 12% of the population is under six years of age.

Siliguri is a cosmopolitan city with ]],Bengali, Bihari and Nepali People living peacefully. The Rajbanshi people, who originally owned most of the land, have decreased in population. Bengalis are now the most prominent communities here. Hindi, Bengali and Nepali,Bhojpuri and english are the commonly spoken regional languages.

Siliguri has seen waves of massive immigration over the years. Most prominent being the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Nepal and migrants from Assam. In addition, people from Bihar and other parts of India are also coming to the city in search of livelihood. The influx has led to an abnormally high population growth.^[5]

Transport

Local public transport include city buses, cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws and city bus tempos and city autos. There is no metered taxi or auto-rickshaw. While 6-seater City Autos ply between two fixed destinations of about 10-15 km away, one can hire petrol-driven auto rickshaws from auto-stands at a rate fixed by the Municipal Authorities.

Rail

Siliguri has three important railway stations:

1. Siliguri Town - This is the oldest station in the area. Opened on 23 Aug, 1880 during the British Raj, this station used to be the terminus for the trains coming from Kolkata, and the starting point for the world-famous Darjeeling Himalayan Railway for journey to Darjeeling. It is this station where such world-renowned personalities as Rabindranath Tagore, Chittaranjan Das and Subhash Chandra Basu set their feet on their way to Darjeeling and other places.

2. Siliguri Junction - This station opened in 1949, and used to be the point of departure of all trains to the north-eastern states, until the broad gauge was extended to Dibrugarh. Siliguri Junction is the only station^[6] in India with tracks of all the three gauges used in India.

3. New Jalpaiguri - Opened in 1961 as a totally greenfield project 6 km south of Siliguri. Initially named New Siliguri (but, later renamed New Jalpaiguri as it is located in Jalpaiguri District) this is now the most important station in the region. It is also known as NJP. This station connects Siliguri to every nook and corner of the country by railway. The city has now been expanded and included New Jalpaiguri as one of its ward of Siliguri Municipal Corporation. The Darjeeling Himalayan Toy train is the main attraction of this station.

With the extension of broad-gauge railway track to the Siliguri Junction station, people can now travel directly to the heart of the city without having to alight at New Jalpaiguri. This new broad-gauge track extends to the old Dooars metre-gauge track up to Alipurduar and beyond. Travelling over this railway line is a beautiful experience as it passes through the picturesque tea gardens of the Dooars area in the backdrop of Darjeeling and Bhutan hills.

Air

Bagdogra airport, situated about 15 km away is the only Domestic as well as the International airport in th region. The airport, since falls within Air Force area (having some restrictions over length of runways and time of flight, etc.), is not well connected to most Indian cities. However, daily flights are available for the state capital Kolkata, Guwahati, and New Delhi. The Bagdogra airport is an international airport. The international operations have been approved and the current operations include flights to & fro from Paro(Bhutan) and Bangkok(Thailand). A regular helicopter service links Siliguri to Gangtok.

Bus

File:Siliguri.jpg

Siliguri

The Tenzing Norgay Central Bus Terminus situated next to the Siliguri Junction Railway Station is a major stop for most private and state-owned buses in the region. The Royal Government of Bhutan also operates buses from Siliguri to its border town Phuentsholing. Jeeps also link Siliguri to neighbouring hill towns like Darjeeling, Gangtok, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Mirik, Jorethang, Namchi.

The Sikkim Government buses run to various destinations of Sikkim from the Sikkim Nationalised Transport (SNT) bus station near the Tenzing Norgay Bus Terminus. There is another Bus Terminus named P C Mittal Bus Stand on Sevoke Road. All Buses heading for the Dooars region via the Sevoke Coronation Bridge originate here.

Road

A new four-lane road, named Vivekananda Road, has been rebuilt connecting Burdwan Road to Mahabirsthan bringing much relief to the chaotic section of the city. The road is planned to join to the west with Matigara, through the proposed 4th Mahananda Bridge which is scheduled to come up by March,2010. The eastern wing of the Vivekananda Road will connect the Eastern by-pass, thus fulfilling a major demand of the vehicular traffic. Also a newly constructed fly-over over the Rail Gate connecting Hashmi Chowk to Mahabirsthan, provide seamless communication from the Station Feeder Road in the South and Deshbandhu Road in the East to the Hill Cart Road in the central part of the city.

National Highway no. 31, 31A passes through Siliguri. In a recent national level project of building a golden quadrangle linking the major cities of India the NH 31 has been converted into a four way expressway.

The neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan and border region of Bangladesh are well connected through road network.

Education

Siliguri has always been the “hub” of education in the Terrai as well as the Dooars region. Apart from the residents of the town, students even from states like Sikkim, Nagaland and Assam come here to pursue education.Also the region sees influx of students from the neighbouring countries of Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. While previously there had been just a handful of schools, of late, there has been a spurt in the same, with schools coming up in every nook and corner, catering to the ICSE, ISC, Central and West Bengal Secondary and Higher Secondary courses. However, the ones that have stood the test of time and worth mentioning out here are:

- Don Bosco School, www.dbsalumni.org
- St. Michael's School
- Siliguri Boys' High School
- Siliguri Girls High School
- Nilnalini Bidyamandir (H.S), Ashrampara, Siliguri
- BSF Senior Secoundry School Kadamtala.
- St. Joseph’s School
- Nirmala Convent School
- Tarai Tarapada Adarsha Vidyalaya
- Auxilium convent School
- Delhi Public School
- Mahbert High School
- Army School(Bengdubi & Khaprail)
- Hindi High School
- Margaret (S.N.) English High School
- Lincolns High School (Boys school at Karaibari and Girls school at Milanpally)
- Jermels Academy
- Sharada Shishu Teertha
- St. Augustine High School
- St. Joseph's Convent, NJP
- Kendriya Vidyalayas(4 in no.)
- Royal Academy
- Modella Caretaker School
- Saktigarh Bidyapith|Saktigarh Vidyapith (H.S)
- New St. Johns High School
- Isabella high School
- Techno India Group Public School
- Techno Model School(H.S)
- IIAS School of Management
- D.A.V.School, Fulbari, Siliguri
- Shew Mangal Memorial Hindi High School
- Dr. B.C.Roy School
- Pranami Mandir Hindi High School

The list is not in any order of merit, academic or extra curricular.

In and around Siliguri, there are a number of colleges, viz., Siliguri College, Siliguri College of Commerce (classes held at night in the premises of the Siliguri College), Siliguri Women’s College, Surya Sen College. All these deliver general degrees as well as specialization (Honours) in the fields available under the University of North Bengal.

The University of North Bengal, located in a serene backdrop of the Terai foothills and tea gardens, was established in 1962, 10 km away from the main Siliguri town, in Raja Rammohan Pur. Approximately 80 colleges are affiliated to the University, with approximately 36,000 and 1,500 students enrolled in graduate and post graduate courses respectively, every year. A sprawling campus, this University boasts having the second largest campus in the country. Huge stretches of green, in the form of quite-dense vegetation, lakes, and seasonal flowers are woven in between the buildings housing the departments.

The North Bengal Medical College, located in Sushrutnagar is the sole medical college in the region and is connected to the main city through the 3rd Mahananda Bridge. Students from across the state as well from neighboring sates come to study here, after having cleared the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations for engineering and medicine. The recently set up Siliguri Institute Of Technology (SIT) located at Sukna, a few kilometers away from the city has fast become one of the major and regular centres for the state’s corporate houses to recruit fresh engineers.

Various all India reputed Management Colleges have their centre in Siliguri. ICFAI offers MBA courses and their campus is located at Mallaguri area. IIAS offers mainly Hospitality Management and Business Management courses and is a very renowned name with their alumni working worldwide, IIAS is situated beside Hill Cart Road 2 km from Darjeeling More in Siliguri towards Darjeeling. Sikkim Manipal University also has its branch in the town which is easily accessible by the students as it is situated in the town in the Pradhan Nagar locality. In the year 2008 the St. Xavier's College opened up its branch in Siliguri initially in the rooms of Jesu Ashram in Matigara but they have now shifted in to a nearby town of Raiganj which is nearly around 25 km from Siliguri. National level coaching center like IMS near Payel Cinema and Erudite in Burdwan Road near Golden Plaza have also opened up which is proving to be of great deal to the students who want to appear for various entrance exams.

Sports

Table Tennis, Cricket, Taekwon-Do, Chess and football (soccer) are the five most popular sports here. People are football crazy and support the local clubs. The Kanchenjungha Stadium is the city's only outdoor stadium and matches are regularly held here. The Stadium houses the Sports Authority of India (SAI) sports hostel for athletes. There is an indoor stadium at Deshbandhupara in the southern part of the city. This new stadium has facilities for lawn tennis, badminton and table tennis as well as other indoor sports. However, the city is best known for being the training grounds for many Table Tennis players. Siliguri has produced quite a few National Champions like Maantu Ghosh, the Gold Medal winner in the 1996 and 1999 SAF Games, Subhajit Saha (2007), Nandita Saha (Juniors,2000). In recent years the close proximity of the Teesta river has made Siliguri a destination for the adventure sports (White Water Rafting) enthusiasts.Wriddhiman Saha (cricketer) celebrated his first class debut for Bengal with a century on debut in the Ranji Trophy against Hyderabad. This wicket-keeper from Saktigarh, Siliguri in North Bengal possesses an extremely safe pair of hands and his performances for Bengal have been rewarded with a place in the East Zone teme. He has also been selected for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.>

Bikes / Motorcycles too are a favorite sports of the young generation of Siliguri. To cater the needs [1]http://xKmph.com - An Indian Bikers Community runs an offline Base to bring all the bikers from all over Siliguri and neignbouring cities together and spread the news of Biking. Teach traffic Rules, Group Riding, Touring, Stunts and teaching how to ride is their activity. Its a non-profit organisation. All Boys and Girls who are really interested in the motorcycles/bikes/scootis or any too wheelers are always welcomed.

Media

Newspapers in Siliguri include the English language dailies, The Statesman and The Telegraph, both of which are printed in Siliguri. The The Economic Times and the Times of India Kolkata editions are available in the same evening. Several Hindi and Bengali newspapers, including Uttarbanga Sambad, Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, Ganashakti, Aajkal,Dainik Jagran,Ganadabi and Janpath Samachar' are also available.

In addition to All India Radio, Siliguri has four private FM radio stations: Radio High 92.7FM ,Radio Misty 94.3, FM 91.9. and SFM 93.5.

Siliguri receives almost all the television channels that are received by the rest of the country. Apart from the state-owned terrestrial network Doordarshan, cable television serves most of the homes in the town, while satellite television is common in the outlying areas and in wealthier households. Besides mainstream Indian channels, the town also receives Nepali Television Channels and Bangladesh Television Channels. Local news broadcasts, sporting events, and concerts are broadcast live or delayed via cable to many households. DTH services both by Government and private companies are also available like Tata sky, Dish tv, Digital tv - airtel, Big tv - Reliance.

Internet cafés are well established in the main market area, served through broadband services provided by BSNL and other private companies like Sinet(CCN).

The area is serviced by cell phone companies such as BSNL, Reliance Telecom, Reliance Infocomm, Vodafone, Aircel, Tata Indicom and Airtel. The major number of subscribers of mobile service are that of BSNL. With the improved service of quality Airtel and Vodafone are also gaining a huge market. The most popular and preferred connection among the Business class is bsnl, airtel, vodafone whereas for the Youth is Smart - Reliance GSM Service.