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Siliguri
Silīguḍī Shiliguri | |
|---|---|
Clockwise from top left: Siliguri aerial view, Science centre entrance, Ewam India Monastery in Siliguri, Sukna forest, Teesta river, Siliguri art in clock tower, Siliguri city centre, Sevoke bridge, Kanchenjunga mountain from Siliguri, Toy train in Siliguri, Siliguri traffic road | |
| Nickname(s): | |
  Siliguri Location in West Bengal  Siliguri Location in India | |
| Coordinates: 26°43′N 88°26′E / 26.71°N 88.43°E | |
| Country | India |
| State | West Bengal |
| District | |
| No. of Wards | 47[2] |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal corporation |
| • Body | Siliguri Municipal Corporation |
| • Mayor | Goutam Deb |
| • Deputy mayor | Ranjan Sarkar |
| • Police Commissioner | Akhilesh Chaturvedi, IPS |
| • Sub Divisional officer | Priyanka Singh, IAS |
| Area | |
| • Urban | 117.54 km2 (45.38 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 2,222.59 km2 (858.15 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 3rd in West Bengal |
| Highest elevation | 140 m (460 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 114 m (374 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Metropolis | 513,264[3] |
| • Rank | 3rd in West Bengal |
| • Urban | 701,489 |
| • City rank | 90th in India |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali[9][10] |
| • Additional official | English[9] |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 734 001-734 015 (city limits), 734 401-734 436(suburbs), 735 133-735 135 |
| Telephone code | 0353, 0354 |
| Vehicle registration | WB 73/74 |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri |
| Literacy | 85.46%[11] |
| Sex ratio | 1000♂/951♀[11] |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Siliguri, Dabgram-Phulbari, Matigara-Naxalbari, Phansidewa |
| Police | Siliguri Police Commissionerate |
| Website | www |
| 1The coordinates given here are in metric system and based upon the Microsoft Encarta Reference Library Map Center 2005 2 The Vehicle Code given here is based upon the Siliguri Sub-Divisional Court, Darjeeling District Court and Jalpaiguri District Court documentations. | |
Siliguri (/sɪˈliˌɡʊri/ Bengali: [ˈʃiliɡuɽi] ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms "Twin Cities" with the neighbouring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known as the "Gateway of Northeast India",[1][12] Siliguri is popular for three Ts: tea, timber and tourism.[13] It is located on the banks of the Mahananda River and the Teesta River at the foothills of the Himalayas.[14] Siliguri is the third largest urban agglomeration in West Bengal, after Kolkata and Asansol.[15][16]
Siliguri has great strategic importance in West Bengal, with convenient access to four international borders: China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. It also connects the North-East with mainland India. Located at the foothills of Eastern Himalayas, Siliguri is a significant trading and transportation hub.[17]
History
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Middle Ages history
According to Sailen Debnath, "Siliguri" means a stack of pebbles or stones. Until the 19th century this region was called as "Shilchaguri" when there was dense Dolka forest covering the region. Siliguri was a small agricultural village in the Kingdom of Sikkim. It was captured by the Kingdom of Nepal in 1788, after which Kirati and Nepali Lepchas came to settle in this region.[18]
At that time a river port on Mahananda, South of Siliguri in Phansidewa had an important role in having trade bond with Malda, Bengal and Bihar. This riverine trade line was thus used by the Bhutanese and Sikkimese to bring goods into their mainland.[citation needed]
Modern history
Siliguri started as a small area in the northern part of city, on the front of Mahananda River, which is now Dagapur. The Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, signed between Britain-Nepal, changed the prospects of Siliguri, and it became a point of transit for the Darjeeling hills and Nepal mainland. From 1816 onwards, Siliguri started growing rapidly as a small city due to its strategic location in trade routes. In 1865, the British captured Darjeeling and the entire Dooars region to build tea plantations and export the produce to England. To scale up 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.[19]
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.[20] At this point many immigrants came to settle here for better infrastructure, which led to an increased population. Later in 1950 Siliguri achieved municipal status.[21] Keeping in mind the importance of Siliguri, in 1951, the Assam rail link was established with newly made (1949) Meter gauge Siliguri Junction railway station. After few years in 1961 all these stations were connected with broad gauge New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station which later became the most important railway station in Northeast India.[22]
Due to tremendous growth, Siliguri is now far away from its past outlook, becoming the largest and fastest growing city in eastern India after Guwahati. The growth rate of Siliguri was 57.8% during 1971- 1981. Considering this growth, Siliguri came under the Integrated Urban Development Project program in 1981. Siliguri population growth rate rose to 46.8% of 1981–1991. A treaty between India and China for trade through Nathu La Pass, has expedited development and prospects of Siliguri as an international transportation and logistics hub. Later in 1994 Siliguri built a Municipal corporation which has been responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Siliguri. Siliguri has now achieved the status of becoming the 3rd largest city in West Bengal, after Kolkata and Asansol.[23]
Geography
Location
Siliguri is located at the foothills of the eastern Himalayas at a location of 26°43′N 88°26′E / 26.71°N 88.43°E. The city is spread over an area of 260 km2 within the Siliguri Corridor, also known as the Chicken's neck. The city is surrounded by dense forests towards north and lifeline of Siliguri, Mahananda River flows through the city thereby bisecting it into two halves. Teesta river is not far from the city. Siliguri has an average elevation of 122 metres (400 feet).[24] As Siliguri is located in the Terai region, the soil is sandy in nature with the ratio of sand and silt much higher than clay. This region is very prone to earthquake as there are several fault lines nearby.[25][26][27][28] The Siliguri subdivision is surrounded by Himalayan ranges towards north and towards south by the country Bangladesh, Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal and the Indian state of Bihar. On the east lies Jalpaiguri district and Kalimpong district and bounded on the west by the country of Nepal, thus strategically so important.[29]
Climate
Siliguri falls under the humid subtropical climate (Cwa), when using the Köppen climate classification. Warm summers, cooler winters and a severe monsoon defines Siliguri's climate.
Temperature
The average annual temperature in Siliguri is 23.2 °C. In summer, the temperature varies from a minimum of 20-24 °C to a maximum of 30-35 °C.[30] The temperature of the hottest month, August, is 27.1 °C. The temperature in peak summer sometimes exceeds 38 °C.[31][32][33][34] On the other hand, the winter maximum temperature hovers around 20-25 °C, and the minimum drops 6-9 °C.[30] January is the coldest month with an average temperature of 16.4 °C. The minimum temperature in winter season sometimes drops 5 °C or below.[35][36][37][38] The highest temperature ever recorded in Siliguri is 41.9 °C, recorded on 7 June 2023,[39] while the lowest was recorded on 8 January 2018, when the mercury plummeted to 1.9 °C.[40][41]
Rainfall and other conditions
On an average, Siliguri gets above 3000 mm per year.[42] Winters are mostly dry, with the summers being rainy. About 80% of the annual rainfall is felt between June and September, this period is known as monsoons or rainy season in the season cycle. Heavy showers are often felt in May,[43] June,[44] July,[45] August and September.[46] July is the wettest month (804 mm) and January is the driest month (12 mm). The average rainy days in July is 27 and for December and January it is 1. Humidity is high throughout the year.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record high °C (°F) | 32.5 (90.5) |
33.2 (91.8) |
38.1 (100.6) |
41.7 (107.1) |
40.8 (105.4) |
41.9 (107.4) |
40.4 (104.7) |
40.0 (104.0) |
40.1 (104.2) |
36.6 (97.9) |
33.8 (92.8) |
32.6 (90.7) |
41.9 (107.4) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 25.6 (78.1) |
27.9 (82.2) |
32.8 (91.0) |
34.9 (94.8) |
35.3 (95.5) |
36.3 (97.3) |
36.0 (96.8) |
36.7 (98.1) |
35.8 (96.4) |
33.5 (92.3) |
30.4 (86.7) |
27.2 (81.0) |
37.0 (98.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 22 (72) |
24.5 (76.1) |
29.3 (84.7) |
30.8 (87.4) |
29.9 (85.8) |
29.5 (85.1) |
29.1 (84.4) |
29.6 (85.3) |
29.2 (84.6) |
28.5 (83.3) |
26.3 (79.3) |
23.4 (74.1) |
27.7 (81.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 10.7 (51.3) |
12.8 (55.0) |
16.1 (61.0) |
19.5 (67.1) |
22.1 (71.8) |
24 (75) |
24.6 (76.3) |
24.6 (76.3) |
23.5 (74.3) |
19.7 (67.5) |
15.2 (59.4) |
11.8 (53.2) |
18.7 (65.7) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | 6.9 (44.4) |
7.2 (45.0) |
12.5 (54.5) |
16.5 (61.7) |
18.6 (65.5) |
22.0 (71.6) |
23.4 (74.1) |
23.6 (74.5) |
21.9 (71.4) |
16.8 (62.2) |
11.9 (53.4) |
7.7 (45.9) |
6.5 (43.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 1.9 (35.4) |
3.5 (38.3) |
6.2 (43.2) |
9.6 (49.3) |
15.0 (59.0) |
20.0 (68.0) |
21.0 (69.8) |
18.4 (65.1) |
19.8 (67.6) |
12.3 (54.1) |
6.4 (43.5) |
2.4 (36.3) |
1.9 (35.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 23 (0.9) |
24 (0.9) |
34 (1.3) |
76 (3.0) |
249 (9.8) |
628 (24.7) |
843 (33.2) |
589 (23.2) |
403 (15.9) |
121 (4.8) |
10 (0.4) |
11 (0.4) |
3,011 (118.5) |
| Average rainy days | 4 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 132 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 69 | 65 | 54 | 63 | 79 | 88 | 90 | 88 | 87 | 80 | 70 | 68 | 75 |
| Average ultraviolet index | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Source 1: normal temperatures[47][48]Ultraviolet Index[49] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Extremes(India Meteorological Department[50]), Mean maximum and Mean minimum temperatures[51] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 33,000 | — |
| 1961 | 66,000 | +100.0% |
| 1971 | 100,000 | +51.5% |
| 1981 | 234,000 | +134.0% |
| 1991 | 367,000 | +56.8% |
| 2001 | 479,000 | +30.5% |
| 2011 | 701,489 | +46.4% |
| Source: [52] | ||
Based on the Census data of 2011, the population of Siliguri UA/Metropolitan (including Siliguri municipal corporation and Dabagram municipality) is 701,489, while the population in the Municipal corporation area is 5,13,264.[3][15][53] Males constitute 51.44% of the population and females 48.55%. Population shares of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe category persons in Siliguri municipal area are 8.84% and 1.25% respectively. The literacy rate in Siliguri is 77.64%.[53][8] There are 154 notified and 31 non-notified slums in Siliguri, where 32% of Siliguri's population lives.[54]
Languages
Bengali is the official language in Siliguri subdivision, including Siliguri city.[56]
In the municipal corporation at the time of the 2011 census, 60.88% of the population spoke Bengali, 25.24% Hindi, 4.66% Nepali, 2.39% Bhojpuri, 1.58% Marwari and 1.24% Urdu as their first language.[55]
Bengalis form the majority linguistic group in the city, followed by Biharis, Marwaris, Punjabis, Nepalis, Odias, and Tribals. According to a 2001 thesis, Bengali speakers had a percentage of 64.25% out of the total population. Of the 30 wards in 2001, their population ranged from 11.71% to 98.96%.[57]