Dec. 18: Mamata Banerjee today announced that Kalimpong would be made a new district, "accepting" the demand of local MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri who has quit the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

"We have decided that Kalimpong will be a district. Harka Bahadur Chhetri and some organisations in the area were demanding that Kalimpong be made a district. We have accepted that," the chief minister said at Nabanna after a cabinet meeting.

Sources said it had been decided initially that a formal proposal to form the Kalimpong district would be placed at the meeting today. The proposal, however, could not be prepared before the meeting.

"So the chief minister made the announcement. The proposal will be tabled later in the cabinet," a source said.

Mamata said it would take some time to form new districts. According to officials, the process would take at least a year as all proposals for new districts have to be vetted by Calcutta High Court.

The chief minister also announced that the Mirik block in Darjeeling would be turned into a sub-division.