Govt allots land for Lepcha community guest house

West Bengal government has allotted a 7.5 cottah plot in Rajarhat New Town to construct an exclusive guest house for the Lepchas of Darjeeling Hills.

To be named Lepcha Bhavan, it will serve the accommodation need of the Lepcha people whenever they visit Kolkata for treatment, education or any other purpose.  The allotted plot is located at New Town’s Action Area-II.

With this, Lepchas are going to be the second community from the Hills to get such a facility close to the state capital Kolkata. As of now, the Gorkha Bhavan located opposite to City Centre-I at Salt Lake is the only exclusive state guest house available to the people from Darjeeling Hills.

The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) will oversee the construction of Lepcha Bhavan, which is tentatively planned as a multi-storied building having a buildup area of about 12,000 square feet. 

As planned, it will be an eco-friendly building fitted with rooftop solar panel as the dedicated power source, and facility for rainwater harvesting.

“We will soon call for design proposals from architecture firms of repute and then a detailed project report will be prepared. The design that we are looking for must reflect the culture and tradition of the Lepcha community,” said a NKDA official not willing to be named. “It will be a landmark building in New Town.”

After being built, Lepcha Bhavan will be operated by the Lepcha Development Board formed by the statement government in 2013.