Siliguri gets importance in Nepal Tourism Year 2011

PATA Adventure Travel  & Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart. 07th to 11th Feb, 2011 at Pokhara.

In a press brief today afternoon at Fulbari, Pokhara, the Secretary of Nepal Tourism, Mr.Kishore Thapa confirmed that they have declared this year as Nepal Tourism Year 2011 because they want to confirm to the world at large that Nepal is peaceful.
Now that the political crisis is over, economical crisis will start and only tourism can address the issue.

Also in the inaugural session he mentioned that tourism will unite the country.
He said that through the PATA conference, which is an intiator event, the Government has focussed at connecting the local tourism enterprises globally.
He said the priority of the campaign is to attract more and more tourists from neighbouring India and China.

He said as Siliguri is very well connected border town, and that the Kathmandu-Bagdogra will be connected shortly by air, the aggressive NTY2011 campaign will start at Siliguri soon. They may also open an office there in Siliguri as several visitors from Bangladesh follow this route.

 

The Chairman of PATA, Mr.Hiran Cooray said that they are looking forward to creating trans Himalayan circuits with Tibet-Nepal-India-Bhutan and Buddhist circuits including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to the above circuit.

He added that initiatives like BIMSTAC, SASEC etc did not take off because of lack of travel industry participation and he hoped that with PATA adding the travel industry with tour operators, airlines etc they can help these initiatives of the several Governments coming together for a trans boundary project successful..

 

 

 

Raj Basu, Editor, Chautare
Pokhara 9th Feb, 2011.

Anjan was here...

Anjan had visited me today at the Help Tourism office, we had long discussions on several issues in regard to Siliguri, the adjoining hills of Darjeeling and the foothills of Dooars. He was asking about the Mahananda Action Plan (MAP), which had confirmed 6ft deep clear water, with introduction of recreational activities like boating... he said that he had been to the Fulbari barrage today morning, but there were hardly any birds...he visited the dumping ground behind Don Bosco School, next to the beautiful Sahu River...he would be visiting Chilapata on Saturday and will return to Malaysia. We talked in length on how we could use Andaman as the transit base between the Malaysian and Indian peninsula and also find road connectivity through Burma (Myanmar).

Both of us promised to work on initiatives that would help to bring the both peninsulas, Malaysian and Indian closer.

With hope from Malaysia

Notes on the Development Prospects of Siliguri.

                The city of Siliguri has had a meteoric rise in recent times. From a small town that catered to the trading community, it has, over the past 5 years metamorphosed to a city that boasts many of the appurtenances of a modern city like malls, multiplexes and flyovers. However the growth pattern has been based on a very small base of trade and its ability to attract the denizens of the neighbouring hilly regions. However Siliguri has the potential to grow to one of the major secondary cities of India and there is no reason for it not to rival cities like Pune, Baroda, Mangalore or Nashik. While this may seem to be just a pipedream at present, we believe that it is quite possible to reach this goal even in the medium term.. While there is much unrest in the region today about the rival claims of the proposed Gorkhaland region and West Bengal proper about its ownership, it is without doubt that Siliguri is the primary city in the region and  no matter what geopolitical changes take place it will maintain this position in the foreseeable future, Thus it is imperative that the city should develop in a manner that will realize its potential in a planned manner instead if leaving it to the piecemeal and spasmodic growth that has crippled it potential. Even with these constraints, it is now acknowledged to be the second City in West Bengal and has the potential to b e a leading tier 2 city in India.

What are the advantages of Siliguri that can trigger rapid development?

Locational advantage:

                 It has been repeated ad nauseam that Siliguri is located in the chicken’s neck of India. However what this geographical location means in economic terms is not always understood. Siliguri stands in the route to all the north eastern states and it is impossible for any transport of men or materials to reach these regions without passing through Siliguri. Even if the much vaunted direct route to the North East via Bangladesh does fructify, Siliguri will still be the gateway to Bihar, Assam with rest of Northeast, Sikkim and the Darjeeling Hill area.

                This is an opportunity to position Siliguri as a transport hub for the entire region. As the East West Highway inches towards completion, it stands at the crossroads of the North East as well as the route to Tibet via Sikkim. If the Look East policy of the Government of India is successful there is every reason to believe that Siliguri will be well poised to take advantage of its location to service the routes to East Asia and China as well as to the Indian north east.

To utilize this locational advantage, the City must set up a major modern transport hub that will be the intermediate stop for all goods and passenger movement, be it by air, road or rail. An apology of a truck terminal has been set up in the Phulbari and Matigara area. Lacking even basic facilities it is unable to attract even truckers for a rest stop, let alone becoming a major hub.

                Siliguri has the potential to become the centre of a major Hub and Spoke type transport Hub. It is possible to integrate the Phulbari and Matigara truck terminal area with the NJP railway junction in order to provide seamless connectivity to both rail and bus passengers as well as for cargo.  It is entirely legitimate to envisage a conglomeration here where bus and train passengers will transit from one form of travel to another and buses will travel from the terminal to various destinations in North Bengal, Bihar as well as to the Dooars, Bhutan and Sikkim as well as Nepal and  Bangladesh . Trains will be used for transport to Assam and South Bengal and the rest of India.  The railways ministry should lead the project and this will immediately attract real estate agents to build hotels, restaurants and entertainment outlets. It can be another KL Sentral that has transformed the central part of Kuala Lumpur city.

                The Bagdogra airport needs an immediate revamp. It is ideally positioned to be another international air transport Hub. It is the ideal location for aircraft from Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sikkim to join the national network. A rapid transit system using the existing rail network that runs parallel to the Siliguri Bagdogra stretch can connect the airport to the proposed transport hub as well as to Siliguri town proper, including NJP.

                Thus the principal driver of this development project should be the Railways which can develop the transport hub as well as the Rapid Transport System from the Airport to the hub via Siliguri town. The Airport development will be done by the IAF under the Ministry of Civil aviation.

Educational Hub

                The Darjeeling District has a proud record as an educational hub. It has several schools that were once the best schools in India and have educated leaders, kings and many leaders of Industry. As a consequence of the recent turmoil in the hills, these have fallen into bad times and will take a long time to recover. Siliguri is ideally posed to develop itself as an alternate education hub. It has the basic infrastructure in place: A University (NBU), A Medical College ( NBMC) and Siliguri College a major undergraduate college. Various private institutions have also set up an engineering college, a Hotel management college and several other schools and undergraduate colleges.

                The NBU has several constraints, but even so, it has set up several innovative courses and has a relatively high UGC rating. This university can be developed to rival any of the others in the region. One development that has taken place in recent years is the development of Universities in several districts like Malda, Sikkim and one is scheduled to open in Darjeeling too. This will take away the problems of conducting undergraduate examinations in its affiliated colleges which take away an inordinate amount of time and energy. NBU will then be ideally poised to develop into a research based university which can attract the best and the brightest, initially from the NE states, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal and then hopefully from the rest of the country. NBU is well placed to be the hub of research in Himalayan geography, biology and history and culture. In addition, it is possible to develop it as a centre for IT education, law and Biotechnology. Developing manpower in these fields will help to attract industry to this area which will be able to collaborate with the University in high end research.

                The NBMC has never lived up to its expectations or to its potential Despite having fairly good infrastructure, the college has been plagued by an abysmal lack of Human Resources, and has become a punishment posting for Calcutta based doctors who spend at most four days here before going back to Calcutta for an extended weekend and lobby desperately to return to the metropolis. As living conditions improve and more and more manpower is created in North Bengal, it should be possible to create a strong cadre of local residents who will form the core base of the teaching faculty and this can be supplemented by attracting the cream of faculty from the major universities for short term basis. Once the departments are developed, the best of faculty will be attracted in any case, to this institution.

                All possible help should be given to those entrepreneurs with a strong educational base to develop institutions, including engineering colleges, medical colleges, management institutes, and vocational institutes in Siliguri and it environs.  A large student community is in itself a big spending group which can boost local business. In addition, the faculty it attracts will also boost business. The manpower development will again be one of the attractions for industry to this region.

Tourism Hub

                Siliguri is well known to all tourists who visit the Hills of Bhutan, Sikkim and Darjeeling. Unfortunately it is not seen as a tourist attraction itself, but is considered merely a staging post for other tourist destinations. It is important to be able to detain tourists in Siliguri and its environments for at least one or two days. This will boost the local hotel, entertainment and transport industry. In order that this may happen, it is important to set up a coordinated tourism group, composed principally of private players. A tourism trade association like EHTTOA (Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators’ Association) comes to mind as a prime mover. In cooperation with the Government , it can identify tourism  attractions in Siliguri and within driving distance and perhaps lobby for the construction of a large scale tourism nodal attraction like a large Bird Park (e.g. the Singapore/ Kuala Lumpur Bird Park)  which can by itself attract tourists to Siliguri. Once the momentum is set rolling, there is every reason to believe that the entire tourism industry can develop immensely and can expand exponentially.

Health Hub

                Siliguri is already the most important Health Hub for the region. It is the preferred site for most of the secondary and tertiary care for a vast region ranging from Assam on the East to Bhutan, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Parts of North Bangladesh and Bihar.  This capacity has been built up entirely by private players; the government hospitals have done practically nothing in this regard. It is now important for these private players to take the step forward to develop hospitals which can be accredited by various accreditation bodies , in order to attract patients who are now bypassing Siliguri for  Calcutta or Delhi, not to speak of the South Indian states. Siliguri must attract large players to its Health City. The Proposed Health City is at present just a name. The Government must move rapidly to develop the entire infrastructure that will attract the biggest names of the industry to come to Siliguri to tap the demand here which is capable of supporting at least 1500 beds in tertiary care hospitals. The development of such hubs will have a multiplier effect in goods and services which can transform the economy in its own right.

Industry

                It is important that Siliguri should get it right regarding industrial development. In South Bengal, the growth of industries like small scale steel mills and chemical plants have brought misery and pollution to the less industrially developed districts, despite its role in increasing income. Siliguri‘s USP is its environment, its forests, rivers and hills. If this is lost, all is lost. It is possible to develop Siliguri without becoming prisoner of heavy, polluting industries and this should be the aim.

                Siliguri should abandon its position in the Timber trade. The trade is unsustainable and this is clear to everybody that the greed of timber traders has caused loss of forests which have been exploited in and unsustainable manner for many years. This should stop immediately. The timber trade should be strictly regulated and only specific plantations should be allowed to indulge in it, with strict regulation to ensure sustainability. All stake holders in Siliguri’s development, including the general public should be made aware that unsustainable development can only lead to disaster.

However, industrial development is essential in order to increase incomes. Which sort of industries should be developed?

                1 IT based industries.  These can be based on the developing IT city in Matigara, which is under planning, but needs immediate growth.

                2 Biotechnology based industry, particularly agricultural biotechnology, including research on tea production and development needs better orientation.

                3 Floriculture and horticulture based industry needs more boosting in production and export through the proposed ‘Green Export Hub’ near Bagdogra Airport.

Siliguri can also be the base for new sunrise industries, including biotechnology and electronics manufacturing. A small beginning has already been made in the electronic manufacturing. Low cost of labour should be able to attract these industries to the area.

What are the constraints that need to be overcome?

 Education levels of the labour force.

                In order that Siliguri should grow to medium levels of income from its presently low level, middle and high income jobs need to be created. Such jobs will only be available for trained high quality human resources. This is at present in short supply in Siliguri. A rapid increase in the educational facilities should make it possible to develop these resources which in turn will attract the desired types of industrial investment.

 One advantage is the better knowledge of English among the NE population and their natural ability to fit into the service industry. The service industry is likely to be the prime mover until the industrial projects take off. Hence, institutions to develop HRD in the service industry is an immediate need.

Infrastructure

                It is obvious that all these ideas will only remain pipedreams unless there is a sea change in the infrastructure available. The never ending construction of the East West Highway has to be completed on a priority basis and better roads need to link Siliguri to the hinterland. The railway project to Sikkim needs to be finished on a war footing and the proposed transport hub (mentioned earlier) must be developed as a practically green field project. All infrastructure should be planned to be world class and should not be the shoddy second class ones that have been passed off as development in the past. The Airport and Rapid Transit system also need to develop simultaneously, preferably in a 5 year plan.

The time table may be something like this:

2010-2015:           

1 Development of road, airport, Transport Hub as well as Rapid transit sy

2 Development of the Health  City complex and start of at least three world class hospitals. 

3 Development of the NBMC into  one of the best 10 medical colleges in India.

4 North Bengal University develops into research University with grants of over                                              250 crores from various funding bodies.

5  Development of first class engineering college, management institution (maybe an IIM) and Hotel management institution in the public sector and a host of schools, colleges and vocational institutes, including nursing schools, paramedical schools, technical institutes in the private sector.

6 Development of at least three 5 star hotels to cater to the tourist trade as well as to cater to the MICE industry.

2015-2020:

1 Development of industrial potential: IT city realizes full potential and Siliguri becomes an international tourism hub. 

2 Other industries come into being: biotechnology industry, electronics, driven by NBU   faculty.

3 All trade to NE and to Eastern Nepal as well as Bhutan and the Hill states routed via Siliguri. The transport Hub caters to at least 5000 crore business annually.

What are the requisites for this?

                                1 Make diversity a strength: make it possible for all groups of people, all incomes and ethnicities to participate in the growth story.

                                2 Develop as a transactional hub which caters to the geographical area that is dependent on it.

                                3 Encourage ideas and knowledge: make it a hub of creative ideas and a modern internet based economy.

                                4 Be creative and innovative and link up with the economy of China (Tibet) which is booming as well as the Indian North Eastern Hinterland. Link up with the ASEAN which is one of the world’s fastest developing areas.

                  

Conclusion

It is possible to build Siliguri as one of India’s most vibrant and creative cities which would be a pleasure to work and live in. The locational advantages, including natural beauty can make it one of India’s most desirable residential areas. There are many possible sources of economic development which can transform Siliguri to a high income earning city which would attract the best and the brightest to study, work and live.  The sky is the limit for Siliguri. It only needs to come out of the thinking small concept to dream big and make these dreams come true.

Dr Anjan Kumar Das MS MCh(CTVS), Clinical Research Leader

Stempeutics Research, Malaysia

www.akdcts.blogspot.com

EthniCity SILIGURI was planned on July, 2010

ETHNICITY, Siliguri

A city in India, connecting South & Southeast Asia

From the desk of a traveler

Mahananda, the greatest happiness, is the name of the river that criss-crosses the city of Siliguri at various places, the backdrop being dominated by the snow-capped peaks of the Mt.Kanchenjunga range and the people of diverse origin, living in peace.

Siliguri was unknown to the world till the late nineteenth century, and it was then, that the Railways made their appearance by first connecting Siliguri to Calcutta through present Bangladesh and then connecting Siliguri to Darjeeling by the legendary Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR). The DHR still continues in steam to be the World Heritage Site.

As an international Biker, I have travelled several sub-continents and ofcourse a large part of India before arriving Siliguri. I was on my way completing my Himalaya Expedition, and I decided to be at Siliguri to get the route details from a very rooted organization of this Northeastern region known as Help Tourism.

This stopover at Siliguri became an exploration for me. I met some of the officials of CII, North Bengal and Sikkim Chapter, where they invited me to some happening places in and around this city. It is here that I came to know that this was the fastest growing city of India and the signs of development were clear. The malls and movie halls were at par with any city of the world, so were the medical facilities, well established schools, authentic dining and hotels of international standards.

The best part of the city is that inspite of the development the greens and breathing spaces still remains. Firstly, the man made plantations of tea, which were started 150 years ago remain as active through the century. A fifteen minutes drive from the heart of the city gave me the insight of the tea industry. A ten minutes drive took me to the elephant habitat of high forests, the landscape which dominated the famous novel by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ‘Anandamath’, from where we got our National song ‘Vande Mataram’.

While I was making two days to week long trips to the Sikkim Himalaya, I came across another famous ‘old man on the bike’, Simon Gandolfi who spoke about the Neora Valley Jungle Camp at the trijunction of Bhutan, Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal. I visited the camp and was wonderstruck with the beauty and facilities there. Also I visited several places in Sikkim like Namthang, Yumthang and Hee.

Most of the places were only three to seven hours drive from Siliguri. I hope to drive from Lhasa one day and pass through this city to City of Siliguri, drive through Bangladesh, Burma and reach Bangkok, a land route that existed through centuries, but closed because of reasons unknown to common people like me.  

 -          Pankaj Trivedi, 

 http://blog.hornokplz.tv. 

Contents in this issue:

1)      Workshop on Siliguri-A tourism Hub held on 10^th April, 2010.

An initiative taken by CII with the venue being the newly opened Hotel Royal Sarovar Premiere witnessed a phenomenal attendance of 49 responsible citizens of Siliguri. This 49 delegates are excluding the Minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Shri.Ashok Bhattacharya, the Mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, Smt.Gangotri Dutta and the Deputy Mayor, Shri.Nantu Paul.

After the welcome speech from the President CII-North Bengal and Sikkim, Shri.Ramgopal Jajodia, Raj Basu spoke on the theme of the workshop. Several persons put forward their views on the subject and the feedback of all the individuals was also taken.

In this issue, we shall deal with the response, feedback, commitments and responsibilities that emerged from this workshop.

Developments required for the City

1)      Masterplan for the city, infrastructural and environmental.

2)      Introduce a proper traffic system.

3)      Broader Roads and more flyovers in the main city centre area.

4)      Hawker free footpaths and foot over-bridges on the main road crossings.

5)      Create parking areas in the city centres.

6)      Stop permissions to any new high rises.

7)      Waste free city.

Shortfalls of the City

1)      Bad condition roads connecting the city from Airport, Railway station, Jalpaiguri and the hills.

2)      Tourism information facility almost missing.

3)      Irregular power.

4)      Lack of parks and green zones.

5)      River front neglected.

6)      Parking and traffic situation.

7)      Lack architectural creativity.

8)      Convention, exhibition and event centres.

9)      Drinking water and Sulabh complexes.

10)  NJP adjoining areas in mess.

Short Term Vision-2012

1)      Name of Bagdogra Airport and NJP to be changed to Siliguri for better geographical identification.

2)      Pollution free and waste free city.

3)      Better roads, electricity and internet connectivity.

4)      Better traffic and parking.

5)      Better tourism information facility.

6)      Unoccupied roads and footpaths.

7)      Strike/Bandh free city.

8)      Political peace and better situation in the hills.

9)      To connect Dhaka and Kathmandu by air from Bagdogra.

10)  Quality city transport network and not polluting or careless city autos.

Long term Vision-2020

1)      Siliguri a Railway Heritage City.

2)      Siliguri a Tea Heritage City.

3)      State of art health facilities.

4)      Many more world class hotels.

5)      International level Convention and Exhibition centres.

6)      Wonderful road connectivity with international borders, hills, Dooars, airport and railway station.

7)      Several well planned green centres in the city.

8)      Traffic and parking model of the country.

9)      Information centre for trade and tourism as an International Tourism Hub with maps. Brochures and online information.

10)  An International sustainable developmental model.

Tea Tourism, scope and shortfall

1)      Immense scope, completely unutilized.

2)      Lack of vision and policy.

3)      Accommodate tourism infrastructure development policy within present lease terms.

4)      Priority to organic and waste free model gardens/estates.

 

Grading of services/facilities

1)      Railways and Air services were voted best.

2)      Law and Order situation of Siliguri was voted second best.

3)      Traffic, Roadways, Power and Tourism Help Desk was mostly voted the worst and the last in choice.

Everyone unanimously voted for Health/Wellness tourism, standardization of rates for tourist services like Taxis, Hotels, Food and Guides, a multi-utility cultural centre to highlight the city and the immediate need for a Handicraft centre in the lines of Dilli Haat at New Delhi. 

A common agreement was reached in publishing a monthly info book on Siliguri and adjoining region, better online presence, publicity and advertisement promotion, presence at all travel and trade marts nationally and internationally and capacity building of all working groups. 

2)      Queens Baton of the Commonwealth Games

It was an opportunity for the people of Siliguri to witness the Queen’s Baton of the Commonwealth Games, hence an international recognization as a sports city.

3)      International sports celebrities, Sourav Ganguly and Leander Paes to be present at Siliguri towards the end of this month.

4)      Sixth round of Darjeeling Tripartite meeting on July 24^th may bring peace in the region. The professionals and stakeholders of the region dominated by politicians.

5)      Asia’s largest travel mart, TTF to be held at Kolkata Netaji Indoor Stadium between 31^st July to 2^nd August, 2010.

Note: This information has been compiled by Raj Basu and P.K.Shah and published with support from CII (North Bengal and Sikkim) Secretariat as on 20^th July, 2010.

    

WELCOME to EthniCity SILIGURI

Siliguri, the dot in the chicken's neck of India's map. She is one of the fastest developing cities in this India's subcontinent. This Gateway to South and Southeast Asia  is the home for several ethnic communities from across Asia living in harmony. Surrounded by oral history, natural and emotional geography, tea and tourism industry... the number of visitors to this city surpasses the local population Siliguri and hence she is also the East Himalaya headquarters for all types of trade.

The city which was mainly born with the planning of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) to be housed and originating from here, almost a century and a half ago, when undivided India was part of the British Empire, she came into limelight.Since then, people from across the globe started making Siliguri their home, and from being a small market around the Siliguri Town Station, developed into a town and then a city. The defence  importance of the city was understood during World War II during British India and then in 1961 during the Chinese Aggression. From Railway Hub to Defence Hub, Siliguri has played many major roles. Recently, other than being a trade centre, Siliguri is a Hub for the service industry like hospitality, health and education, and above all the centre of the modern natural history of the Biodiversity Hotspot, East Himalaya.

Almost all the residents of Siliguri and also many of them who has migrated elsewhere for work but their heart is very much a part of this city are very possessive and proud about their city, Siliguri. The residents of this city are always more than happy to help the visitors to Siliguri, they organize several events throughout the year to keep themselves, sellers and buyers updated about the services which they and their neighbours can generate. . 

This blog can only remain living if all of you contribute several kinds of information, starting from write-ups, maps and pictures to tell about the past, present and future of this city to plans and suggestions which will help her to live happily with her neighbours.

                                                             
Raj Basu, Editor at www.chautare.blogspot.com