The Trinamool Congress-run Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) announced the withdrawal of the approval for a multi-functional building to be built by the Sikkim government here, within a few hours after chief minister P.S. Tamang (Golay) laid the foundation stone on Wednesday.

Tamang laid the foundation stone of the basement-plus G-plus 10 building off Hill Cart Road on the premises of the Sikkim Nationalised Transport (SNT) complex on Wednesday morning. The estimated cost of the project, which is supposed to come up on a 2.1-acre plot, is around ₹197 crore.

“The new building will house the SNT office, along with some offices of our government. There will be a healthcare centre to provide medical support, especially to patients from the weaker economic section of the society in Sikkim, and a modern bus terminus,” Tamang said.

The Sikkim government, sources said, aimed to finish the project within 36 months. This is a major infrastructure work that the government of the neighbouring mountain state has taken up in Siliguri in recent years.

Soon after Tamang’s programme, Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb announced that the SMC was withdrawing the approval for the project. “We received complaints from some residents of Ward 3 where the project has been planned. We reviewed the project and decided to withdraw the approval. We have communicated our decision to the secretary of the transport department of Sikkim,” the mayor told journalists after the monthly meeting of the civic board.

According to Deb, the proposed healthcare centre that will come up at the building has been named Sikkim Suswasthya Bhavan.

“This may create confusion among the people here as the Bengal government runs Suswasthya Kendra or similar healthcare clinics,” he said.

“Also, considering the height of the proposed building, the service road is not adequately wide to handle traffic to the site that is near the Tenzing Norgay Central Bus Terminus,” the mayor added.

Sources in the Sikkim government said they were yet to go through the written communication sent by the SMC. “It is an important project. We will go through the communication, look into the issues mentioned therein and take necessary steps,” said a source.