Green boost: Civic body to plant over 10K trees in Siliguri

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 11 June 21 | DARJEELING: Siliguri, one of the fastest growing cities in the state, is all set to get a green cover and a facelift. The Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) will be planting over 10,000 trees from the first week of July. Gautam Deb, Chairman, Board of Administrators, SMC held a meeting with NGOs, Forest officials, district administration and heads of educational institutions. 

"The pandemic has taught us the importance of the air we breathe. Keeping this in mind, our aim is a green Siliguri," Deb said. 

"Trees like neem, flowering and fruit-bearing trees will be planted. We are trying to get trees that are two to three-year-old. They have a good growth rate. The NGOs will be given the task of looking after the trees," added the chairman. 

Meanwhile, the SMC along with the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA), and the state PWD have drawn up plans to give Siliguri a facelift. "This will improve the quality of life in the city as well as ease traffic snarls," added Deb. 

The proposals include a Bailey bridge at Darjeeling More. This bottle neck area usually experiences serpentine traffic jams. 

"We have already sent a proposal to the state PWD for a Bailey bridge. It will ease the problem," stated Deb. Along with this, alternate roads running parallel to the busy Hill Cart Road and Sevok Road are on the anvil. These roads will also have multi-level parking spaces. 

"We have also decided to rebuild the Bidhan Market, the most important and largest market space in the city" stated Deb. http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/green-boost-civic-body-to-plant-over-10k-trees-in-siliguri-443100