Asok at Assembly panel meet

TT, Siliguri, Feb. 5: Mayor Asok Bhattacharya and Tapas Sarkar, the sabhadhipati of Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, today attended a meeting convened by the Assembly's standing committee on transport here.

Since May last year, when the Left Front mayor assumed office, this is the second time that he has been called to an official meeting convened by the state government or the Assembly committees.

For Sarkar of the CPM, who assumed the sabhadhipati's post in November last year, this is the first time that he has been called to such a meeting.

The standing committee on transport is headed by MLA S.M. Sadi of the CPM.

"In (June) last year, I had a meeting with north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb to discuss development issues. After that, this is the second official meeting where I have been invited. It is good that the Assembly's standing committee on transport thought of inviting us to know about the burning problem of traffic congestion in Siliguri. We have also made some recommendations during the meeting to reduce the traffic congestion," Bhattacharya said after the meeting.

Sadi said steep rise in number of vehicles was affecting Siliguri and its surroundings