About Birpara
Location : Alipurduar District, West Bengal
Nearest City : Siliguri and Jalpaiguri
Distance: 118 km from Siliguri
Best Season : Anytime except the monsoon
Birpara, the name comes after join two Bengali words, Bir and Para. Where Bira means brave and Para means place of living. Initially Birpara was a part of another village called Dalgaon and was not peaceful or ideal to live. But due to the growth of population, some people started to live there. They were mostly tea garden workers. They were called "Bir" people or brave people for daring to live in such place. And the area was given such a identity. Now a days, the population of Birpara is about 30,001.
Birpara is situated in the centre of the Dooars in the Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal. It has a very significance role in the economy of Dooars. The area is surrounded with more than eighteen tea gardens, developed a strong economy during the nineties, but now with the failure of the tea gardens, the economy of this area face a big problem. Now a days, people of Birpara mainly depends on service and trade with Bhutan. Bhutan is just 25 kilometer away from there.
People
Birpara is an ideal example of Indian Unity in Diversity. People of Birpara are from various ethnic community of India such as Bengalis, Gorkhas, Adivasis Marwaris, Asamese and Biharis. And they are spoken in many languages such as Bengali, Nepali, Hindi, marwari, Sadri and English. Since its origin, people here have lived in harmony.
People of Birpara mainly depend on service, trade and tea garden works. There has several slums-area, mainly tea garden workers are live there. Due to the 'Gorkhaland' propaganda, a racial outfits take in place in between Gorkha, Bengali and Adivasis. Where Gorkha demands 'Gorkhaland' and the Bengali & Adivasis opposing it. And it arise a tension among Bir (brave people) of Birpara.
Attractions in Birpara
Birpara has two toll-free parks where people can go during daytime. Both of them witness heavy crowds during occasions like New Year. People from surrounding areas like Ethelbari visit this place for shopping and other purpose. Ethelbari is famous for bricks manufacturing and is also hub for large numbers of RCC Hume Pipe manufacturers and stone crushers, mainly due to the easy availability of raw materials. Titi is a very populous picnic spot at Birpara, situated at the Bhutan border.
Gomtu is a small town of Samtse District of Bhutan and is about 25 kilometers driving distance from Birpara. It is surrounded by the hills and the virgin forests great Himalayas with a beautiful and scenic environment. The road between Birpara and Gomtu is covered with lush green tropical vegetation. There has a Kali temple at Gomtu, which is very famous among all the Hindu populations of this area.
Transport
By Road : NH 31 between Siliguri and Guwahati passes over Birpara. North Bengal State Transport Corporation or NBSTC buses, Bhutan Govt. run buses, mini-buses or private buses, and taxi are available from Siliguri to Birpara. It is about 113 km driving distance between Siliguri and Birpara, and maybe a journey of about 3 hours.
By Rail : New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri Railway Station are main railway station in this area. It has also a train station, called Dalgaon station, connecting the town with the rest of the country. After you arrive at New Jalpaiguri or Siliguri, you can follow the road journey to reach at Birpara or can change train to reach Birpara. It takes around 3 hours from Siliguri or New Jalpaiguri. And also you can check the express train stoppage, which arrive at Dalgaon.
By Air : The nearest airport to Birpara is situated at Bagdogra. This is a domestic airport run by the Indian Army. All major air services are available from all over India. The distance between Bagdogra and Siliguri is about 13 km. You can find out various vehicles to come to Siliguri and then follow the above road or railway route.
Accommodation
In Birpara, there has a forest department bungalow which are very good and comfortable for accommodation. Some other private accommodations are also available with tourists demand.
To check the room availability and online booking in the resorts of West Bengal Forest Development Corporation click here.
Reservation Authorities :
Wild Life Division
P.O. & District - Jalpaiguri
Phone : (03561) 230838
M-4 Building, Pradhan Nagar
Hill Cart Road, Siliguri - 734403
Phone : (0353) 2511979 / 4, 2432561
Fax : (0353) 2511979, 2432561