PM inaugurates circuit bench of Calcutta HC

Churabhandar (WB):Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday inaugurated the long-awaited circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court and said it would help in providing speedy justice to the people of north Bengal.

Pressing a button to unveil the plaque of the circuit bench, he said, "The long-term demand of the people of north Bengal has been met with the inauguration of the circuit bench as they will not have to travel to Kolkata for litigations."

The bench will provide speedy justice to people of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar in north Bengal, he said.

Residents of these four districts will now have to travel less than 100 km instead of 600 km, he said.

Modi also laid the foundation stone for the four-laning of the Falakata-Salsalabari section of National Highway-31 D.

The 41.7 km-long section of National Highway falls in Jalpaiguri district and will be constructed at a cost of about Rs 1938 crore, he said.

The project will reduce the distance from Salsalabari and Alipurduar to Siliguri by nearly 50 km and will boost tourism in the region, he said.

The four-laning of the national highway will facilitate better movement of tea and other agricultural produce from the region to markets.

These will provide a major boost to socio-economic activity in north Bengal, opening up employment opportunities for the local people, Modi said.

The highway will have three railway over bridges, two flyovers, three vehicular underpasses, eight major bridges and 17 minor bridges on this section of the highway.