Chopper rides

Siliguri, April 29: North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb today announced that Pawan Hans would soon introduce helicopter services between Cooch Behar and Calcutta via Bagdogra. “We are determined to improve connectivity across north Bengal. As part of it, the state government will soon sign an MoU with Pawan Hans which in turn will operate helicopter services between Calcutta and Cooch Behar. The good news for the residents of Siliguri is that they can also avail themselves of this service as it would be via Bagdogra. The service would be introduced soon,” Deb said at a citizens’ convention organised by Trinamul here today. He also said the state government was planning to set up a Hindi-medium college on the outskirts of Siliguri. “The first Hindi-medium college of the state will start functioning at Birpara in the Dooars from the next academic session. The college would, in due course, shift to a permanent building planned in Banarhat. The state government has (also) decided to open another Hindi-medium college in the Terai to cater for the Hindi-speaking students living on the outskirts of Siliguri,” Deb said. He attended the convention today to hear problems faced by Siliguri residents and suggestions to solve them. “A series of proposals and problems like traffic congestion, improvement of tourism infrastructure and opening of health care and educational institutes has come to me through today’s convention. After two months, most likely at June end, we will convene another convention where I would present an “action taken report” and elaborate how much we could implement the proposals and mitigate the problems,” Deb said.