The Trinamul-run board of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) has taken up the task to extend its jurisdiction by adding more contiguous areas of Siliguri sub-division and adjoining Jalpaiguri district.
It is over a decade since the demand to include such areas, which have seen rapid urbanisation but bear rural tags, under the municipal corporation was raised by residents. Time and again, they have said local panchayats can’t provide the civic services they now need.
Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb on Saturday said that the SMC area will expand soon. He said there are plans to include a number of localities under the Matigara block of Darjeeling district and the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district.
“We have plans to extend the area of the SMC till Uttorayon township in the north. In the south, we want to include parts of Fulbari-I and Dabgram-II panchayats under the civic body. After Diwali, a comprehensive survey will be done in these areas,” said Deb on Saturday during his weekly interaction with residents.
Uttarayon is under Matigara block. The two panchayats in southern parts of the city are under Rajganj block.
“I have spoken with Firhad Hakim (state urban development and municipal affairs minister) on the expansion of the existing civic area and have come to know certain approvals are required at the administrative levels. We are thus initiating all necessary processes and the survey is an important part of it,” the mayor later told the media.
During the survey, teams will visit areas to find out the rate of urbanisation and job profile of people and gather data on some other parameters to confirm that the localities have turned urban.
In 1994, the Siliguri municipality was upgraded into a corporation with 47 wards. Among these, 14 wards are under Jalpaiguri district and come within the ambit of Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly constituency.
In all, the civic area is spread over around 42 sqkm.
Residents of the areas appeared upbeat. “There is no reason as to why these areas should not be included under the SMC. In fact, people of Matigara, Shivmandir and Bagdogra have been demanding a separate civic body for a long time,” said Amlan Sarkar, a resident of Fulbari.
Some other residents pointed out that across the state and even in north Bengal, there are a number of smaller civic bodies where the population is much lower and the rate of urbanisation comparatively less.
“There are civic bodies like Malbazar, Dhupguri and Mekhliganj where both population and urbanisation are much less than Fulbari, Bagdogra and Matigara. Recently, the state granted municipal status to Falakata and Maynaguri which are much smaller urban areas than the areas in and around Siliguri. So there’s no reason why Fulbari, Bagdogra and Matigara can’t have civic status,” said Dibyendu Saha, a Shivmandir resident.
Mayor Deb also spoke on the infrastructure development work in Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly seat during his tenure as MLA. He had won twice from the seat but lost to the BJP candidate at last year’s Assembly elections by a margin of around 27,000 votes.
“I have accepted peoples’ verdict. The residents should now ask their local MLA to get central funds so that work can be carried out in the area. On my part, I am striving to include portions of the constituency under the civic body which will immensely help people,” he said.
Residents in some of the 14 wards of the SMC which are under Jalpaiguri district have again iterated the need for bifurcation of their wards through delimitation.
“There are some wards where the population is more than 10,000. Such wards need to be bifurcated for better civic services,” said a resident.
Officials at the SMC also admitted to the benefits of smaller wards.
“Delimitation is necessary to ensure that every resident gets proper civic services. Also, it helps improve governance and planning for the development of the city,” said a civic official.
