Clockwise from top left: Siliguri aerial view, Science centre entrance, Ewam India Monastery in Siliguri,
Sukna forest, Teesta river, Siliguri art in clock tower, Siliguri city centre,
Sevoke bridge,
Kanchenjunga mountain from Siliguri, Toy train in Siliguri, Siliguri traffic road
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 is based upon the Siliguri Sub-Divisional Court, Darjeeling District Court and Jalpaiguri District Court documentations.
Siliguri has great strategic importance in West Bengal, with convenient access to four international borders:
China,
Nepal,
Bangladesh and
Bhutan. It also connects the North-East with mainland India. Located at the foothills of
Eastern Himalayas, Siliguri is a significant trading and transportation hub.[17]
History
Middle Ages history
According to Sailen Debnath, "Siliguri" means a stack of pebbles or stones. Until the 19th century this region was called as "Shilchaguri" when there was dense Dolka forest covering the region. Siliguri was a small agricultural village in the
Kingdom of Sikkim. It was captured by the
Kingdom of Nepal in 1788, after which
Kirati and Nepali
Lepchas came to settle in this region.[18]
Siliguri started as a small area in the northern part of city, on the front of
Mahananda River, which is now Dagapur. The
Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, signed between Britain-Nepal, changed the prospects of Siliguri, and it became a point of transit for the
Darjeeling hills and
Nepal mainland. From 1816 onwards, Siliguri started growing rapidly as a small city due to its strategic location in trade routes. In 1865, the British captured Darjeeling and the entire
Dooars region to build tea plantations and export the produce to England. To scale up exportation they introduced the
Siliguri Town railway station which stands to this day, and introduced the
Toy train from the station to Darjeeling in 1880. This helped Siliguri gain sub-divisional town status in 1907.[19]
The "
Siliguri Corridor" was formed when
Bengal was divided into
West Bengal and
East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) in 1947, with Sikkim later merging with India in 1975.[20] At this point many immigrants came to settle here for better infrastructure, which led to an increased population. Later in 1950 Siliguri achieved municipal status.[21] Keeping in mind the importance of Siliguri, in 1951, the Assam rail link was established with newly made (1949)
Meter gaugeSiliguri Junction railway station. After few years in 1961 all these stations were connected with broad gauge
New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station which later became the most important railway station in Northeast India.[22]
Due to tremendous growth, Siliguri is now far away from its past outlook, becoming the largest and fastest growing city in eastern India after
Guwahati. The growth rate of Siliguri was 57.8% during 1971- 1981. Considering this growth, Siliguri came under the Integrated Urban Development Project program in 1981. Siliguri population growth rate rose to 46.8% of 1981–1991. A treaty between India and China for trade through
Nathu La Pass, has expedited development and prospects of Siliguri as an international transportation and logistics hub. Later in 1994 Siliguri built a Municipal corporation which has been responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Siliguri. Siliguri has now achieved the status of becoming the
3rd largest city in
West Bengal, after
Kolkata and
Asansol.[23]
Geography
Location
Siliguri is located at the foothills of the eastern Himalayas at a location of 26°43′N88°26′E / 26.71°N 88.43°E / 26.71; 88.43. The city is spread over an area of 260 km2 within the
Siliguri Corridor, also known as the Chicken's neck. The city is surrounded by dense forests towards north and lifeline of Siliguri,
Mahananda River flows through the city thereby bisecting it into two halves.
Teesta river is not far from the city. Siliguri has an average elevation of 122 metres (400 feet).[24] As Siliguri is located in the
Terai region, the soil is
sandy in nature with the ratio of sand and silt much higher than clay. This region is very prone to earthquake as there are several fault lines nearby.[25][26][27][28]
The
Siliguri subdivision is surrounded by Himalayan ranges towards north and towards south by the country
Bangladesh,
Uttar Dinajpur district of
West Bengal and the Indian state of
Bihar. On the east lies
Jalpaiguri district and
Kalimpong district and bounded on the west by the country of
Nepal, thus strategically so important.[29]
The average annual temperature in Siliguri is 23.2 °C. In summer, the temperature varies from a minimum of 20-24 °C to a maximum of 30-35 °C.[30] The temperature of the hottest month, August, is 27.1 °C. The temperature in peak summer sometimes exceeds 38 °C.[31][32][33][34] On the other hand, the winter maximum temperature hovers around 20-25 °C, and the minimum drops 6-9 °C.[30] January is the coldest month with an average temperature of 16.4 °C. The minimum temperature in winter season sometimes drops 5 °C or below.[35][36][37][38] The highest temperature ever recorded in Siliguri is 41.9 °C, recorded on 7 June 2023,[39] while the lowest was recorded on 8 January 2018, when the mercury plummeted to 1.9 °C.[40][41]
Rainfall and other conditions
On an average, Siliguri gets above 3000 mm per year.[42] Winters are mostly dry, with the summers being rainy. About 80% of the annual rainfall is felt between June and September, this period is known as monsoons or rainy season in the season cycle. Heavy showers are often felt in May,[43] June,[44] July,[45] August and September.[46] July is the wettest month (804 mm) and January is the driest month (12 mm). The average rainy days in July is 27 and for December and January it is 1. Humidity is high throughout the year.
Based on the Census data of 2011, the population of Siliguri UA/Metropolitan (including Siliguri municipal corporation and Dabagram municipality) is 701,489, while the population in the Municipal corporation area is 5,13,264.[3][15][53] Males constitute 51.44% of the population and females 48.55%. Population shares of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe category persons in Siliguri municipal area are 8.84% and 1.25% respectively. The literacy rate in Siliguri is 77.64%.[53][8] There are 154 notified and 31 non-notified slums in Siliguri, where 32% of Siliguri's population lives.[54]
In the municipal corporation at the time of the 2011 census, 60.88% of the population spoke
Bengali, 25.24%
Hindi, 4.66%
Nepali, 2.39%
Bhojpuri, 1.58%
Marwari and 1.24%
Urdu as their first language.[55]
Bengalis form the majority linguistic group in the city, followed by
Biharis,
Marwaris,
Punjabis,
Nepalis,
Odias, and
Tribals. According to a 2001 thesis, Bengali speakers had a percentage of 64.25% out of the total population. Of the 30 wards in 2001, their population ranged from 11.71% to 98.96%.[57]
The most commonly followed religion in Siliguri is
Hinduism, with
Islam being the largest minority religion, followed by small percentage of adherents of
Christianity and
Buddhism.[58]
Governance and politics
Civic administration
Siliguri saw rapid urbanisation under the British rule and that was reflected in its local governance as well. The earliest form of local urban governance was a Sanitation Committee set up in 1915.[59] Its function was to dispose off night soil. Till 1921, most aspects of local governance in Darjeeling district, including Siliguri, was looked after by the Darjeeling Improvement Fund. In 1922, Siliguri Local Board with nominated members was created under the Bengal Local Self Government Act, 1885. In 1938, the Union Board was set up in Siliguri under the Bengal Village Self-Government Act, 1919 and it provided public utilities in the city.
The
Municipal Council was set up in 1949 under the Bengal Municipal Act of 1932 with 8 wards.[59] The first chairperson of the municipality was the Sub Divisional Officer, and the local councillors, called 'commissioners' in the then municipal act in effect, were nominated by the state government. After the amendment of the act in 1956, 3/4 of the local representatives were elected, while the remaining nominated by the Deputy Commissioner. The first elected chairperson of Siliguri was Jagdish Chandra Bhattacharya.
The term of the last elected body of Siliguri Municipal Corporation ended on 7 May, 2,020 but municipal elections could not be held because of the
COVID-19 pandemic.[64] A Board of Administrators was established with the outgoing mayor, Ashok Bhattacharya, as the chairperson. This board will take care of the civic utilities of the city till the new municipal body is elected. This follows the establishment of similar boards first in state capital Kolkata and then the rest of the state.[65]
Building plans in Siliguri are approved by Siliguri Municipal corporation; for building up to 3 storeys including parking, the Borough Offices give clearance, while for buildings with more than 3 storeys, the Building Department gives the approval.[68] The present City Development Plan 2041 for Siliguri was developed in 2015 as part of the Capacity Building for Urban Development project under the then
Ministry of Urban Development by the private consultancy,
CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions Limited.[54] Siliguri City comes under Siliguri Jalpaiguri Planning Area and the responsibility of planning and development of the city lies with
Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority.
The Public Health Engineering Department of the
state government is responsible for developing and maintaining the infrastructure for water supply, while the Water Supply department of the corporation provides new connections, supplies water, and collects the user charges.[54][69] The Conservancy Environment Department of the corporation provides Solid Waste Management services in the city.[70] Each ward in the city has its own Solid Waste Management committee that takes care of cleanliness at the ward level.[54] The Public Works Department of the corporation and
Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority are both responsible for the construction and maintenance of roads in Siliguri.[71][72][73] Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority also prepared the Traffic & Transportation Master Plan 2030 and the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Siliguri Jalpaiguri Planning Area.[74]
Flora and fauna
Flora
Siliguri and surrounding the Sub-Himalayan forests are rich in fauna diversity. The plains of North Bengal (Siliguri,
Jalpaiguri,
Cooch Behar etc.) are surrounded by deep forests. These forests are home of various rare and common species of plants. The forest here is moist
Tropical and characterised by dense growth of tall Sal (
Shorea robusta). Sal occupies about 80% of all vegetation in these tropical forest.
These forests are categorised by their dominating plant species such as
3) Eastern Tarai Sal Forest, generally found in lower altitudes compared to other two types of forest. This type of forest characterised by various species of
bamboos,
ferns, and
Sal which is found in Baikunthapur Forest, near Siliguri city.[75]
The rapid growth of the city has led to deforestation, making Siliguri warmer day by day and unbalancing the ecosystem.
Fauna
Siliguri is located in the Terai region ("moist land"), a belt of marshy grasslands and dense tropical deciduous moist forests at the base of Himalaya range which is rich in biodiversity, containing numerous rare species of flora and fauna. These forests are characterised by their distinct wildlife variety.
Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri is famous for elephants. Sukna is the gateway to this sanctuary, which is 12 km from Siliguri.
These sub-Himalayan forests are the home of various types of wild animals like the
elephant,
tiger,
Indian bison,
barking deer, wild pig, monkey,
civet, snake, lizard, mountain goat,
sambar, chital and
fishing cat. These forests are also home of about 243 different bird species like the
pied hornbill,
egret, kingfisher, drongo, fly catcher, woodpecker and others. Another common sight is migratory water birds.[76]
Transport
Road
NH 27 crosses through the heart of the city[77] which is now a part of the
AH2 project. Siliguri is the origin of the century-old Hill Cart Road that is
NH 110, which connects Siliguri and Darjeeling[78] (77 km) dating from the British period. Siliguri also is the origin of
NH 10 which connects Gangtok,[79][80] and
NH 12 which connects Pankhabari-Mirik. The highways NH 327, that connects Siliguri — Panitanki and NH 327B connecting Panitanki - Mechi Bridg, are also part of
AH2.
It connects to adjacent countries through following routes:
Being a transportation hub,[87] Siliguri is well connected through railway with almost all parts of the country. There are seven stations that serve the city.
Siliguri Junction railway station (station code SGUJ)[95] established in 1949[96] is another major broad gauge and narrow gauge railway station of Siliguri. Until 2011 it was the only triple gauge (broad gauge, meter gauge and narrow gauge) railway station in India.[97] After 2011, the meter gauge was shut down, but the track remains between Siliguri Junction railway station and Bagdogra railway station. Many different cities in India are serviced from this station.[98]
Siliguri Town railway station
Siliguri Town railway station is one of the oldest railway station (station code SGUT)[99] of the region, opened in 1880[100][101] for the
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (Toy train) connecting Siliguri and Darjeeling. Its importance diminished with the construction of the Siliguri Junction railway station and New Jalpaiguri junction.
Siliguri Town railway station is also a broad gauge and narrow gauge railway station, and is halting point for 8 trains only.[102]
Bagdogra railway station
Bagdogra railway station (station code BORA)[103] comes under greater Siliguri metropolitan area. It is 10 km from Siliguri junction and is the third largest railway station after NJP and Siliguri Junction. This station serves Bagdogra and adjacent areas. Bagdogra railway station is on the
Siliguri-Aluabari broad gauge single line via
Thakurganj. This station is the halting point for 14 trains.[104]
Gulma railway station
Gulma railway station Railway (station code GLMA) is part of the Siliguri Urban area. It is 12 km from Siliguri City center and serves Champasari Anchal and Gulma areas. Gulma railway station is on the
New Jalpaiguri-Alipurduar-Samuktala Road Line. This station is the halting point of 5 trains. Mainly passenger train halt at in this station.
Matigara Railway Station
Matigara Railway Station (station code MTRA)[105] is situated at Mathapari, West Bengal.[105] Trains passing through this station include MLFC - SGUJ DEMU and SGUJ- MLFC DEMU. This station has a single platform and two tracks; one broad gauge line and one metre gauge line.[citation needed]
Rangapani railway station
Rangapani railway station (station code RNI) is part of the greater Siliguri metropolitan area. It is 14 km from Siliguri City center and serves Rangapani and adjacent areas. Rangapani railway station is on the
Howrah-New Jalpaiguri line. This station is a halting point for 2 passenger trains.
Central government of India confirmed
international airport status to this airport in 2002 with limited international operations.[106][107] This is one of the few airports in India with zero sales tax on aviation turbine fuel.[108]
All India Radio Siliguri was commissioned in 1963 as an additional station of
AIR Kolkata.[132] It has two groups of transmitters: high power BEL HMB 140 (AM) -2 [2×100 kW] and medium range GCEL 136 (FM) - 2 [2×5 kW], for broadcasting programs.[133]Prantik was the first program broadcast from here in 1969.[132] In the course of time many notable individuals like
Hemanta Mukhopadhyay,
Ustad Rashid Khan,
Subhas Mukhopadhyay,
Shashi Kapoor,
Manabendra Mukhopadhyay,
Madhuri Chattopadhyay, and Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi have visited
AIR Siliguri.[134] Popular programs executing from here are Pratyusha, Yuva Anusthan, Grame Ganje, Mahila Majlis, Mananiyeshu, Sishumahal and Arogya.[135] Two radio channels are operated from
AIR Siliguri through which programs are broadcasting daily:
Siliguri receives almost all television channels received by rest of the country. Apart from the national terrestrial network
Doordarshan,[143][144] cable TV serves most of the houses.[145][146] Siliguri also receives some Nepali[147] and Bangladeshi channels too. Siliguri has three local channels: CCN,[148] Amar Cable and HTV. There is a TV tower in Kurseong,[149] about 25 km from Siliguri.
Sports facilities
Siliguri hosts numerous sporting events and matches to influence and build develop young athletes from the city. Some of the important sports enthusiast local clubs in Siliguri organise several cricket, football, volleyball, swimming competition, TT matches etc. S.A.I or
Sports Authority of India in Kanchenjunga Stadium conducts football and athletics.[150] With the provision for an international outdoor and indoor stadium, Siliguri has enough opportunities to host national level matches.[151] This has led Siliguri become a prominent city for national champions like
Mantu Ghosh, the gold medalist winner in the bi-annual South Asian Games (SAF) for table tennis,
Ankita Das,[152]Nandita Saha[153] and
Soumyajit Ghosh[154] another internationally acclaimed table tennis player and
Wriddhiman Saha – Indian international
cricketer who plays
Test matches for
Indian national team.[155] Siliguri has done a tremendous job for Indian table tennis.[156] Bikash Ghosh Memorial Swimming Pool is beside Kanchanjunga Stadium in the city, and conducts swimming competitions. White water rafting is done nearby in the
Teesta river.[157]
Kanchanjunga Stadium, a multipurpose stadium, is the main stadium in Siliguri,[158] and is primarily used for football matches, although it has also hosted several cricket matches. It has a capacity of 30,000[159] people at a time. Recently[when?] this stadium is all set to get a facelift.[160]
Indoor sports including
table tennis,
badminton,
taekwon-do,
lawn tennis and
chess are played here. Siliguri is renowned for being the training grounds of table tennis players. This stadium can hold 5000 people at a time. The Senior National Table Tennis Championship[165] was recently organised here.[166] Sports festival, 2017 was also held in this indoor stadium.[167]
North Bengal Wild Animals Park, about 8 km (5.0 mi) away from the city, offers visitors the 'Bengal Safari' to experience sub-Himalayan wildlife closely, such as
jungle fowl,
sambar deer,
royal bengal tiger,
wild boars,
spotted deer,
wild bear, and
rhinoceros. It is fundamentally a part of the
Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, spread over an area of 700 acres. The park conducts herbivore safaris, carnivore safaris, and elephant safaris.[173][174] The
Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary is located 13 km (8.1 mi) away from Siliguri on the foothills of the Himalayas, between
Teesta and
Mahananda.The sanctuary spans over 159 km2 (61 sq mi) of reserve forest. In 1959, it received the status of a sanctuary mainly to protect the
Indian bison and royal bengal tiger. This sanctuary is home to rare
mountain goat,
chital,
barking dear,
fishing cat, sambar deer, tiger, elephant and
Indian bison and migratory birds. It offers mild to medium trekking challenges at some points.[175]
There are some important Hindu and Buddhists monuments in and around the city.
Salugara Monastery is located 6 km (3.7 mi) away from Siliguri. The main attraction is the 100 ft (30 m)
stupa, which is believed to be founded by the Tibetan Lama,
Kalu Rinpoche.[176] This tranquil location for meditation was established by Tibetan monks and followers of
Dalai Lama.[177] Sed-Gyued monastery is located near Salugara monastery. It is a breathtaking monument which was destroyed by the Chinese army, and then rebuilt. The monastery is home to more than 90 monks of the
Gelukpa division, and is used as a research centre.[178] Ewam India Buddhist Monastrey is 11 km (6.8 mi) from Siliguri and is placed in the lap of nature near Bengal safari.[179] The
ISKCON temple in the city, also known as Sri Sri Radha Madhav Sundar Mandir locally, is one of the biggest Krishna centres in the North-Eastern region of India.[180] The Sevoke Kali temple is an ancient temple on the banks of
Teesta river close to the
Coronation Bridge.This temple dedicated to
Maa Kali, the Goddess of Destruction.[181]
Siliguri also offers amusement and water parks to tourists and locals. Dreamland Amusement Park, located near
Fulbari, 12 km (7.5 mi) from Siliguri junction, is an agricultural land converted in a fun house. It has 5-6 usual rides and a mini
Ropeway. Savin Kingdom is an amusement and water park which is located near Dagapur in Siliguri. The water park has a pool, slides, artificial wave, and rain dance.[182] It also has various joy rides like adrenaline junkies, sky train, break dance, go-carting, and artificial bullsas well as a multiplex, kids zone, and restaurant.[183]
The North Bengal Science Centre, established in 1997, is the only science centre in North Bengal. The main attractions are the Digital Planetarium, Science Shows, 3D Theater, Taramandal Shows, science galleries and a green Science Park.[184][185] The Hong Kong market is known as the Chandni Chowk of
Northeast India, a street market with a variety of shops popping out on the alleyways.[186]
Notable people
Ashok Bhattacharya - Ex Minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs.
Sailendra Nath Roy - Guinness Book of World Record holder for the farthest distance travelled on a zip wire and pulled 40 tonnes
DHR toy train using hair.[189][190]
Nandita Saha - table tennis player who was part of Indian trio, defeated Canada in Commonwealth 2006 at Melbourne and won bronze medal for India.[191]
^
ab"SJDA". sjda.org.
Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
^"District Census Handbook Darjiling"(PDF). District Primary Census Abstract, Census of India 2011. censusindia.gov.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
^"Handbook on Siliguri"(PDF). asiscwb.org. Association of Schools for the Indian Schools Certificate. 2018. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 20 May 2019.