A chance to turn history pages

SNS, Siliguri, 22 OctoberCome Siliguri Carnival slated for 15-21 December, people are all set to flip back on the pages of Siliguri’s rich history. The Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) is facilitating the event and a permanent heritage committee has been set up.

"An effort has been made to revisit the history of Siliguri on the theme ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.’

The town’s look long ago, its look now and how it will look in the future, will all be there for people to see.

A heritage committee has been set up with experts and people who have long experience with the town and know it like no other.

The committee will work to preserve historical items related to the town," said SMC secretary and committee member Saptarshi Nag.

A book will be released during the carnival that will contain some rare photographs and information about Siliguri.

"There will be a photograph of how the Siliguri Court would have looked in the beginning, a very rare photograph depicting Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to the town to meet the ailing Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das. This apart, there is only a copy of the settlement survey of the Siliguri mouza.

The survey was conducted in 1923-1925 and the copy was printed in 1927. We are trying to reprint the copy," Mr Nag said.

The heritage committee will appeal to the people to come up with anything of the bygone days that they possess that may help everyone relive the past.

“An archive can also be set up to preserve the historical items, documents at the SMC,” Mr Nag said.

SMC commissioner Sonam Wangdi Bhutia, Prof Ananda Gopal Ghosh, Soumen Nag, Pof Pranab Bhattacharya, Raj Basu and former employee of the erstwhile Siliguri Municipality, Pranab Bhattacharya are the other members of the panel.

"Mr Bhattacharya has witnessed the transformation since the time the SMC was called the ‘union board,’ then it transformed into the Siliguri Municipality and later the SMC," Mr Nag said.

Organisers also plan to stage a laser show at the event.