03/02/2022
Siliguri is situated at the base of the Himalaya mountains in the plains of Darjeeling District by the side of River Mahananda. It is the 2nd largest city in West Bengal and known as the gateway of North-Eastern India.
The strategic location of the place makes sure that travelers to the North-East has to pass through Siliguri. It is also the commercial capital of the region.
Siliguri has great strategic importance in West Bengal. It is located conveniently, connecting four international borders i.e. China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Siliguri started as a small area i.e. now Saktigarh, southern part of city, on the bank of Mahananda River. Treaty of Sugauli in 1815 signed between Britain-Nepal, changed the prospect of Siliguri. As it became a point of transit with Darjeeling hills and Nepal mainland. 1815 onwards, Siliguri started growing rapidly as a small city due to its strategic convenience of trade. In 1865, the British captured Darjeeling and the entire Dooars region to build tea plantations and export the produce to England. For easy exportation they introduced the Siliguri Town railway station which stands to this day, and introduced the Toy train from the station to Darjeeling in 1880. This helped Siliguri gain sub-divisional town status in 1907.
The "Siliguri Corridor" was formed when Bengal was divided into West Bengal and East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) in 1947, with Sikkim later merging with India in 1975. At this point many immigrants came to settle here for better facilities which led to an increased population. Later in 1950 Siliguri achieved municipal status.
The City is situated at 122 mtrs above Sea-level,having an average annual rainfall of 323 cms. It is considerably cooler than the Southern and Central regions of West Bengal- Summer temperature rarely exceeds 38 deg Cent and winter mean minimum temperature rarely falls below 4 deg Cent. The whole region is popularly famous for three(3) T's - Tea,, Timber & Tourism. There are forty five(45) Tea Gardens to spread over the Blocks of Sub-Division. The two important adjacent areas - Mahananda Wild Life Sanctuary & Baikunthapur Forest contribute a lot in the micro-climate of the town. Siliguri has the best communication network in the region.The nearest important Railway station is at New Jalpaiguri (NJP) under N.F. Railway just 3 kms away from the heart of the City. Bagdogra Airport at a distance of 12 Km is the only airport which also caters the need of Sikkim. The National Highway 31 & 55 connect Siliguri with other major places of North-Eastern India.
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