Siliguri Mayor defends SMC’s performance, calls accusations ‘completely baseless’
Siliguri: Siliguri Mayor Gautam Deb strongly refuted the allegations made by Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh, stating that the accusation that the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) did not complete projects funded by the MLA is “completely baseless”.
Addressing a Press conference on Friday, Deb alleged that the MLA was “intentionally trying to mislead the public by providing false information for political and electoral gains.”
On Thursday, MLA Shankar Ghosh had accused Mayor Gautam Deb of deliberately delaying projects funded through his MLA LAD funds and depriving the public of development.
The Mayor dismissed the allegations as “politically motivated and far from reality”.
According to the Mayor, the MLA had provided only small token amounts for large-scale development projects that require significant funding. Despite this, Deb claimed that the majority of the projects recommended by the MLA have already been taken up by the respective departments.
The Mayor said, in 2022–2023, MLA provided funds for 4 works to the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA)— all completed. 2023–2024: Funds provided for 3 works — all completed. 2024–2025: 5 works allotted — 3 completed, 1 on hold, 1 suspended. 2025–2026: 6 new works allotted out of these a road and drainage construction project with the installation of lights along Nivedita Road requires Rs 88 lakh, but the MLA allotted only Rs 5 lakh. Another project needs Rs 62 lakh, yet only Rs 5 lakh was provided. For another project of Rs 58 lakh, again only Rs 5 lakh was given.
“Such minimal funding made it impossible for the SMC to execute the projects,” Deb further added.
Deb also said that some pending projects require No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the Railway Department, but the MLA has failed to provide them. “Instead of arranging necessary permissions, he is choosing to raise baseless allegations ahead of elections for political benefits. No other MP, MLA of the Opposition party raised such allegations against us. We have documented datas for every project,” Deb commented.
