Our Siliguri - New Urban Agglomeration  

Siliguri, a small town you might have read in a lot of posts, but by end of this article we shall help you to  find out its not small town anymore, but it has grown up to be urban agglomeration.

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 Integrated Urban Development Project program in 1981. Siliguri touched 46.83% of population growth rate in 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. 

Toy Train Ferrying Tourists

 

Later in 1994 Siliguri built a Municipal corporation which has been responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Siliguri. It has now achieved the status of becoming the 2nd largest metropolitan city in West Bengal, after Kolkata.

Siliguri started as a small area i.e. now Saktigarh, southern part of city, on the bank of Mahananda River. Treaty of Sugauli in 1815 signed between Britain-Nepal, changed the prospect of Siliguri. In 1865, the British captured Darjeeling & the entire Dooars region to build tea plantations and export the produce to England. For easy 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 to gain Sub-Divisional town status in 1907.

Siliguri is a metropolitan city that spans areas of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known as The Gateway of Northeast India, Siliguri is popular for four T's -

The Four T's

 

On the banks of River Mahananda & situated between the Himalayan foothills and Dooar region of West Bengal. Siliguri also known as the Gateway to North-East India, its has also serves as a base for other major tourist destinations in the vicinity. However, Siliguri in itself is a perfect holiday destination with plenty to explore. For adventure enthusiasts, river rafting, trekking, and paragliding are among the major activities that will interest you in Siliguri. In between those adventure trips, you also have plenty of nature to traverse with abounding beauty as well as wildlife sanctuaries.

Siliguri has great strategic importance in West Bengal. It is located conveniently, connecting four international borders i.e. China, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan. It also connects the North-East with the Indian mainland and is connected with all other districts of West Bengal. Located at the foothills of Eastern Himalaya, Siliguri is a trading and transportation hub. Over time, Siliguri has grown from a village into a commercially progressive city. 

Siliguri population but due to the city's booming economy, it has drawn people from Bihar, Jharkhand, North Bengal, North-East, Sikkim and other parts of India in search of livelihood.

Notable people of Siliguri : 

Ankita Das - Represented India at the 2012 Summer Olympics in Women's singles event in Table Tennis.

Soumyajit Ghosh - table tennis player and the youngest Indian to qualify for the London, 2012 Olympics. He also became the youngest national champion at the age of 19.

Nandita Saha - table tennis player who was part of Indian trio, defeated Canada in Commonwealth 2006 at Melbourne and won bronze medal for India.

Wriddhiman Saha - Indian international cricketer who plays Test matches for Indian national team.

Source : 

Wikipedia