Siliguri

Siliguri is situated in the foothills of Himalayas on the banks of the river Mahananda. Siliguri is bound by Kurseong on the north, Bangladesh on the south, Jalpaiguri on the east and Nepal on the west. Potential and process of urban growth and development in Siliguri received recognition in 1931 when it became a non-municipal town, which was followed by its declaration as a Municipal Town in 1950. Siliguri Municipality had an area of 15.54 sq. km, which was substantially increased in 1994 to 41.90 sq. km when it was upgraded to Siliguri Municipal Corporation. This is an indicator of the rapid pace of urbanisation in Siliguri Urban Area (SUA), which comprises Siliguri Municipal Corporation and the adjacent urban growth centres. Siliguri Urban Area has an area of 117.54 sq. km out of which 68.90 sq. km falls under Jalpaiguri district and 48.64 sq. km falls under Darjeeling district. Siliguri has shown consistently high rate of population growth throughout its 63 years of existence. A population of less than 5,000 in 1931 had multiplied manifold to 32,480 in 1951. In 1991, Siliguri Municipal Corporation area had a population of 3,70,421 whilst the population of the Siliguri Urban Area was 4,30,464. Advantageous location of Siliguri made it an ideal Centre of trade, commerce and transit tourist traffic. As Siliguri lies on the traditional trade route to Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, even in its initial period of growth, it attracted people from its vast hinterlands stretching as far as Bihar, eastern fringes of Uttar Pradesh and Assam. As a result Siliguri has acquired a cosmopolitan character. Partition of India accentuated its importance as it placed it in a narrow corridor linking North-East to the rest of the country. Expansion of urban infrastructural facilities failed to keep pace with the rapid increase in the population growth in the central business district. The population density in the erstwhile Siliguri Municipality area was as high as 14,624 persons per sq. km in 1991.