A Rs 6-crore scheme has been drawn up to beautify Vidyasagar Setu. A Telegraph picture

After Howrah bridge, it’s the turn of Vidyasagar Setu to don a new look. By December, the 15-year-old Setu will be illuminated and given a coat of paint as part of a Rs 6-crore scheme of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC), the custodian of the structure.

“Philips has designed a lighting scheme for the bridge. We’ve asked the company to restrict the cost to Rs 5 crore. The annual electricity charges will be around Rs 30 lakh,” said a state transport department official.

Paint manufacturers — including Asian Paints, Berger and Jenson & Nicholson — have been asked to provide samples. “These will be used by computer applicators to work out combinations that will suit the structure,” said an HRBC official.

Transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury said the beautification is likely to be complete by December. “In addition, the Park Street and Gariahat flyovers will be painted by the Puja. The HRBC will fund these projects,” he added.

Construction of the nine-lane Vidyasagar Setu, which can bear a load of 85,000 vehicles daily, began in 1978. It was opened in October 1992 by the then Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao. The contractor consortium of Braithwaite, Burn and Jessop built the structure — which has a main span with a length of around 457 metres — at a cost of Rs 388 crore. The Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) lit up the 64-year-old Howrah bridge in November last year. The eight-month project cost Rs 3.5 crore.

“All famous bridges of the world look attractive when they are photographed in the evening. A well-decorated Vidyasagar Setu will be another feather in our cap,” said a CPT official.