July 19, 2014
WB CM announces development projects for Darjeeling
West Bengal Chief Minister Ms MamataBanerjee and GTA Chief Bimal Gurung held a meeting at Richmond Hill inDarjeeling on Friday.
The Chief Minister said that a bipartitemeeting on the GTA`s functioning will be held in Kolkata, followed by atripartite meeting in Delhi within a month.
The meeting between the WB CM and GTA Chiefon the third anniversary of the signing of the GTA accord was followed by a `reviewmeeting` between the Chief Minister, GTA executive members, districtadministration officials, municipality officials, MLAs, and the statesecretaries.
Speaking after attending the meeting in theoffice of the Darjeeling district magistrate, Ms Banerjee said: “Today wasan important meeting as everyone has agreed to work together to developDarjeeling. This is a good message.”
The Chief Minister said that an expertcommittee comprising members from the state, GTA, district administration, andthe municipalities will be formed. “The officials concerned have beenasked to prepare a master plan for the development of the three hillsub-division of Darjeeling,” she said, adding, “The master plan isexpected to be prepared within six months.”
The plan will include improving the tourismand health sectors, rainwater harvesting, sewerage system, sericulture andhorticulture. She also announced Rs 5 crore for a bio-tech hub in Kalimpong, Rs30 crore for the improvement of the solid waste management system in Darjeelingand Rs 9.75 crore for the GTA under the Indira Gandhi Awas Yojna.
