The state government has “in principle” agreed to expand the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) area.

“We have initiated a process to include some areas situated on the fringes of SMC. The state government and the minister (Firhad Hakim of the state urban development and municipal affairs department) have principally agreed with the proposal,” said Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb.

“We will soon submit a map with the proposed areas to be included from Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the SMC," he said.

The SMC, which falls in the Darjeeling district, comprises 47 wards, including 14 wards from Jalpaiguri district.

The fringes of Siliguri have urbanised exponentially in the last decade as evinced by several townships, healthcare and education institutions and hotel chains.

“Rural boards no longer have the capacity to cater to the needs of these areas, which is why the demand to include these areas in the SMC is so strong,” said a source.

Residents of Dagapur and Matigara, which lie adjacent to the SMC area, have long demanded inclusion in the SMC for better civic amenities.

According to a source, the civic body proposes to include Dabgram-II and parts of Fulbari-I gram panchayat, currently under the Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly seat of Jalpaiguri district, in the SMC area.

Uttarkanya, the branch secretariat of the state government, is in Fulbari-I.

Plans are also underway to expand the western SMC boundary to Matigara and Patharghata gram panchayats.

The Matigara gram panchayat has the North Bengal University and the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH).