Siliguri infra to be at par with Kolkata, says Mamata
Siliguri: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday stated that she will oversee the functioning of Siliguri Municipal Corporation and asserted that efforts will be made to develop the infrastructure of Siliguri, Asansol and Chandannagar at par with Kolkata. Banerjee further added that her government will set up 20 lakh houses for the people belonging to the tribal community in the next five years.
Earlier she had said: "Siliguri is a very important city. For years, it was under the rule of the Left Front. We have carried out several developmental works in Siliguri. We have constructed several flyovers and are developing the highways to reduce the travel time to Kolkata."
The Bengal government has already decided to give priority to the people belonging to SC/ST communities in constructing houses under the Bangla Abas Yojana.
Banerjee, on Tuesday, chaired the meeting of the Tribes Advisory Council at Uttar Kanya. Chief Secretary H K Diwedi and Director General of Police Manoj Malaviya along with senior officials of the state government attended the meeting.
The newly-elected councillors of Siliguri Municipal Corporation met the Chief Minister at Uttar Kanya on Tuesday morning and took part in a photo session with her.
She told the councillors to concentrate on the development of the wards they represent. "Work seriously and do not demand anything. I will monitor the functioning of the SMC," she said.
Banerjee further added: "When people come to Kolkata, they look at the development of the city with awe. When they go to Rajarhat, they are amazed by the development which is at par with international standards and now, similar development needs to be undertaken in Siliguri."
She asked the councillors to go to the masses and win their confidence. "Listen to their complaints and advice and work for the development of the area. People have blessed us in the civic election and we should be more humble and sincere," she maintained.
She asked the councillors to get in touch with her in case they want to lodge a complaint against anyone.
Gautam Deb who will be the Mayor of SMC said the Mayor and the chairman will take the oath of office once the notification of the state Urban Development department is published.
For 27 years, SMC was the fiefdom of Ashok Bhattacharya, the veteran CPI(M) leader and former state Urban Development minister. In 2015, CPI(M) was able to take control of the civic body though by then Trinamool Congress was in power in the state.
In the 2021 Assembly election, Shankar Ghosh of BJP who had joined the saffron brigade from CPI(M) won and took a lead in 21 wards.
Out of the 47 wards in SMC, Trinamool won in 37 wards while the BJP and Left Front got five and four with Congress getting just one seat.
Trinamool Congress got 47.24 per cent votes while the BJP got 23.24 per cent, Left Front got 18.28 per cent and Congress got 5.32 per cent votes in the recently concluded civic elections.
