Mamata Banerjee launches 112 kms of road projects in Siliguri, Darjeeling

EOI, SILIGURI, MARCH 28, 2023: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday virtually laid the foundation stones of 49 roads in the Darjeeling district. 

The projects included rehabilitation of existing roads as well as construction of new roads. The total cost of the projects would amount to about Rs 22 crore. Of the 49 projects, 47are located in the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad area and two in the area of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. 

 A total of 112 kms of roads will be constructed and repaired in the Darjeeling district. Mayor of Siliguri Gautam Deb, District Magistrate of Darjeeling S. Punnambalam and Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Siliguri Arun Ghosh were present in the event held at Devidaga in the Champasari area of Siliguri.

MP, Siliguri: With the aim to improve the rural connectivity, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the Pathasree-Rastasree project in 22 districts of Bengal virtually from Singur on Tuesday. Districts of North Bengal will also benefit from this project. 

Foundation stone has been laid for construction and repair of 49 roads in the Darjeeling district. Among this, 47 are under Siliguri Mahakuma Parisad and two are under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). 

A total of Rs 21 crore and 89 lakh has been sanctioned for the projects. On Tuesday, a programme was organised at Debidanga, Champasari area in Siliguri where S. Ponnambalam, the District Magistrate of Darjeeling, Arun Ghosh, the Sabhadhipati of Siliguri Mahakuma Parisad, Gautam Deb, Mayor of Siliguri and other dignitaries laid the foundation stone after Chief Minister inaugurated the project. 

“Panchayat and Rural Development department has given the approval for the project. The tender process for all the roads have been completed. We will immediately start the work. We will try to finish the work before the monsoon season,” said S Ponnambalam, DM, Darjeeling. 

Out of the 49 roads, 13 roads will be newly-constructed and repaired in Matigara, 14 in Phansidewa, 12 in Naxalbari, eight in Khoribari and two in Rangli area under GTA. 

Rs 16 crore has been sanctioned for the Mahakuma Parisad where 105 kilometres road will be construed and the rest sum of Rs 5 crore and 49 lakh has been allotted for GTA area for 7 kilometre road. 

The tender for 29 roads has been done by the West Bengal State Rural Development Agency (WBSRDA). Siliguri Mahakuma Parisad has done the tender for six roads and the Block Development Officer has done the tender for 12 roads. 

“We will engage local labours in the projects, especially those who have job cards. We will instruct the agencies to check the number of job cardholders in local areas where the road construction work will be taking place,” DM added. 

“These roads have been lying in a poor condition for years. The Left Front-led past Mahakuma Parisad board didn’t do anything to repair or construct such roads. Our government has taken the responsibility to improve the connectivity of rural areas. We will soon finish the work,” said, Arun Ghosh, Sabhadipati, Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad. 

In foundation stone laying programme of Pathasree-Rastasree, in Malda 298 schemes have been approved comprising 272.63 kilometres of road against the allocated fund of Rs 84 crore 40 lakh. 

This programme has been held in 164 venues across the 146 gram panchayats of the district. 69.01 km road will be of Bituminous and the rest 269.62 km of concrete type road will be constructed. Under this project in North Dinajpur a total of 214 roads of 328.38 km total length will be constructed within the district. The state government has approved Rs 98.07 crore for this. 

The roads includes a road from VNC More to Vadgara in Raiganj. In Alipurduar district total 139 roads have been sanctioned with a total length of about 328km. The virtual inauguration was attended by Savadhipati Shila Das Sarkar, District Magistrate Surendra Kumar Meena, Police Super Y RaghuVamshi along with the other officials. In Cooch Behar district, a total of 373 roads have been sanctioned with a total length of about 884km at a cost of Rs 250 crore. 

In Jalpaiguri district, a total of 190 roads with a total length of 462 km have been sanctioned. In the Kalimpong district the foundation stone was laid virtually for a 4km long road from Suili to lower Rabek, Reshikhola, Kagey at a cost of Rs 4 crore. (With inputs from Alipurduar, Malda, North Dinajpur) 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/foundation-stone-laid-for-repair-building-of-49-roads-in-darj-dist-513229