Rabindra Bhavan to get facelift

TT, Siliguri, May 25: North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb today said his department would spend Rs 1 crore on the restoration of Rabindra Bhavan at Mungpoo and improve the road communications to the hill hamlet where Rabindranath Tagore had gone four times between 1938 and 1940.

"We will immediately start the restoration of Rabindra Bhavan at Mungpoo. North Bengal development department will spend Rs 1 crore in this regard. Initially, it was decided that the funds would be spent jointly by my department and the state information and cultural affairs department," Deb told journalists here this afternoon.

Mungpoo is around 70km from Siliguri. Tagore had visited the bungalow four times between 1938 and 1940 because of his love for the place and a special bond with Maitreyi Devi, daughter of his friend. She was married to the then director of cinchona plantation, Manmohan Sen.

"It was during the celebrations of Tagore's birth anniversary this year that we came to know that there was no electricity at Rabindra Bhavan, as WBSEDCL has disconnected the power connection. We will restore the power and do repairs on a war footing in the next three months so that we can commemorate the bard's death anniversary at Mungpoo with grandeur this year," said the minister.

At Mungpoo, sources said, the north Bengal development department would host a cultural event where artistes from Siliguri and Dohar, a Bangla band, will perform during the bard's death anniversary.

"As per the instruction of the chief minister, Rs 4 crore has been sanctioned by the state to set up a research centre on Tagore at Mungpoo. Once we complete certain formalities involving the GTA, the work will start," said Deb.

The minister also said two new bus services would start operations to Mungpoo from Siliguri and Darjeeling from June. "We intend to develop Mungpoo as an ideal tourist destination. Bus services will be introduced from Siliguri and Darjeeling. Any visitor can take the bus, visit Mungpoo and return on the same day by the same bus," Deb said.

He also said Matir Sathi, a comprehensive textbook library, would be opened at Himanchal Bihar in Matigara, on the outskirts of Siliguri, soon.

"This is going to be the first referral text book library in north Bengal. The state library science department has developed this modern library at Himanchal Bihar. The chief minister has named it Matir Sathi. It is a four-storied building developed by the library science department at Rs 1.15 crore. My department will also spend another Rs 50 lakh. Initially, books in English, Bengali, Hindi and Nepali languages will be available there for the reference by students and researchers," Deb said.

"The library is almost complete. The chief minister will inaugurate it when she visits north Bengal the next time."

The minister also said the library science department had launched a separate project to restore the existing library building of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, adjacent to Dinabandhu Mancha, in Siliguri. According to Deb, Rs 1.8 crore will be spent in this regard.

Deb said his department would start work for improved drainage system, boundary wall, parking area and beautification of the Siliguri district hospital.