Siliguri in Focus: Amit Shah Strengthens Corridor Security, Highway Expansion Approved, Ward Delimitation Sparks Row
Amit Shah Inaugurates SSB Projects and Reviews Siliguri Corridor Security
Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Siliguri and inaugurated multiple projects at the Sashastra Seema Bal headquarters, reinforcing the central government's focus on the strategically sensitive Siliguri Corridor. The corridor — often called the Chicken's Neck — connects Northeast India to the rest of the country through a narrow strip flanked by Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Amit Shah chaired a high-level security review meeting at which he pushed for a triangular grid security arrangement to tighten coordination among paramilitary and intelligence agencies operating in the region. Eight buses were deployed from Siliguri to assist passengers after a rail disruption at Farakka highlighted the fragility of single-mode transit through this bottleneck zone. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari also announced he would hold administrative review meetings in Kalimpong and Siliguri to assess flood, landslide, and monsoon preparedness across North Bengal's district administrations. The cluster of central and state government attention on Siliguri — combining security architecture, emergency preparedness, and physical infrastructure — reflects the city's growing role as a hub for both national security policy and cross-regional connectivity in the Northeast. [2]
🏢 Rs 2,077 Crore Four-Laning of NH-327 Set to Strengthen Siliguri Corridor Road Network
West Bengal has been allocated a Rs 2,077 crore project to four-lane National Highway 327, a key artery running through the Siliguri Corridor that links the plains to the Northeast. The project includes widening a critical stretch near the Chicken's Neck region and developing an alternate route along the Nepal border, giving the corridor additional road capacity and strategic depth in the event of disruptions along the primary alignment. Five elephant underpasses are included in the infrastructure package, acknowledging the substantial wildlife movement across the forested corridor zone. The investment is part of a broader national push to reduce bottlenecks in one of the most geopolitically significant transport corridors in South Asia, where a single narrow road and rail link serves all seven northeastern states. Siliguri functions as the gateway for goods, people, and logistics heading to Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and beyond, and any capacity expansion on NH-327 directly benefits trade, tourism, and defence logistics across the entire region. The four-laning project is expected to substantially cut travel times and ease chronic congestion that worsens each monsoon season when landslides frequently close sections of the existing highway. [3]
Siliguri's Municipal Wards to Rise to 63 as Opposition Alleges Political Motives in Delimitation
Siliguri's municipal area is set to see its ward count rise to 63 under a new delimitation exercise, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties in West Bengal. Leaders across several formations have flagged what they characterise as politically motivated boundary drawing, arguing the process is being manipulated to benefit the ruling party ahead of future local body elections. The delimitation is part of a broader reorganisation of ward boundaries in urban West Bengal, and Siliguri — the state's second most populous city and the dominant urban centre of North Bengal — is a significant political battleground for both the Trinamool Congress and opposition parties. Critics have demanded transparency in the methodology used to redraw ward limits and called for an independent oversight mechanism. The controversy comes as the city prepares for the next cycle of Siliguri Municipal Corporation elections, where ward configurations directly determine which candidates are viable in each constituency. The addition of new wards could reshape political equations particularly in fast-growing residential areas on the urban periphery where population distributions have shifted considerably over the past decade. [8]
Sources: [2] News On AIR · [3] Swarajya · [8] Telegraph India