West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced a package of tourism and connectivity measures for Cooch Behar, including plans to include the currently non-operational Cooch Behar airport in the Centre’s Udan project and to strengthen road, rail and air links across the district.
Speaking during a visit to the district, Adhikari said the state government would focus on tourism infrastructure in Cooch Behar, which attracts visitors for its natural landscape and historic temples. He said improved guesthouses and accommodation facilities would be developed alongside better transport connectivity, with the expected growth extending to hotels, restaurants, local transport operators and other small businesses linked to tourism.
Adhikari said the state government was scheduled to sign an agreement with Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu for the Udan project on October 8. The report did not specify when flights from Cooch Behar airport would resume or identify airlines, routes or passenger-capacity targets. The airport currently has no operating flights, according to the report.
The chief minister also said the Terai-Dooars region would be developed as a global tourism hub within one year. In Cooch Behar, he identified the 19th-century Madanmohan Temple and other religious sites, including Baneswar Shiva Temple, Siddheswari Kali Bari, Siddhanath Siva Temple and Madhupur Satra, as attractions that could benefit from improved visitor facilities.
Adhikari said the government would take steps to fulfil what he described as the people’s aspirations in Cooch Behar by May 9, 2027. He also promised to reopen closed tea gardens, provide ownership of surplus land to tea-garden workers living on the estates, construct 1,200 houses in Toto Para and ensure a 20 per cent bonus for tea-garden workers. The report did not provide project costs, beneficiary numbers or implementation schedules for these commitments.
The announcements came alongside measures involving wildlife and regional infrastructure. At Subhasini tea garden in Alipurduar, Adhikari inaugurated a rhinoceros gallery and named two rhinos Chaitanya and Sulakshana on World Rhino Day. He said a Royal Bengal Tiger would be translocated to Buxa Tiger Reserve, where the number of resident big cats had fallen to zero over the years. He said the release could take place by October 2, but no further details about the translocation plan were provided.
In Jalpaiguri, Adhikari inaugurated a 126-metre-long and 13-metre-wide bridge over the Murti river. Built at a cost of nearly Rs 20 crore, the bridge will connect Nagrakata to Jalpaiguri. He said two more bridges were under construction and that work on a bridge at Kalikhola, damaged in a natural disaster the previous year, would begin after receiving approval.
The state government’s announced timeline includes the October 8 agreement for the Udan project, a possible October 2 tiger translocation and the completion of identified Cooch Behar commitments by May 9, 2027.
