The state government has started sending notices to nearly 150 landowners who have agreed to part with their land for the construction of a bridge that will directly take pilgrims from Calcutta to Gangasagar, instead of having to wait for a vessel to cross the Muriganga.

The 4.85km bridge, the longest over a river in the state, will cut down the time taken to cross the river to a little over five minutes from the 45 minutes needed to cross the river in a vessel.

The estimated cost of the project is ₹1,438.62 crore.

The state public works department, the implementing agency for the bridge’s construction, floated the tender last year. After a few extensions, the current deadline for companies to submit bids has been extended to June 24.

Several engineering behemoths attended the pre-bid meeting and sent multiple emails with queries, a state government official said.

The deadline for commissioning the bridge is four years from the onset of work.

To reach Gangasagar from Calcutta, one has to now travel to Kakdwip Lot number 8 in a vehicle. From there, the vessel takes them to Kachuberia on Sagar Island.

There are barges available to ferry cars from Kakdwip to Sagar Island, but the services are not frequent.

After reaching Kachuberia, cars and buses take a visitor to Gangasagar, located at the southern tip of Sagar Island, which is one of the southernmost patches of land in
Bengal.

Every year, millions of pilgrims visit Gangasagar.

“Once the flyover is commissioned, it will merely take five to seven minutes for people to reach Sagar Island from Kakdwip, which now takes about 45 minutes,” said the state government official.

The bridge will also benefit the residents of Sagar Island, who wait for hours to come to the mainland.

“A patient needing emergency transport to Calcutta can use the bridge. They will not have to wait for high tide for the vessels to run across the river,” said a state government official.

The state government will purchase about 12 acres of land for the project.

“We have started sending notices to those from whom the government will purchase land for enabling the bridge’s construction. Discussions with them were held earlier, and they have all consented to part with their land. About 12 acres of land will be purchased and the owners will be paid as per the market value,” said Sumit Gupta, the district magistrate of South 24-Parganas.

“The bridge will make the communication between Gangasagar and Kakdwip faster and easier. It will help pilgrims going to Gangasagar. It will also help the residents of Sagar Island who now have to wait for a vessel to cross the river to reach Kakdwip,” Gupta added.

A senior engineer said the construction of the bridge was a challenging assignment.

“There has to be sufficient clearance between the maximum water level and the deck of the bridge so that the passage of large vessels and ships is not obstructed. There needs to be a certain amount of gap between piers,” said the engineer.

The river bed is 30m below the water level. The piling will be done by digging at least another 70m under the bed. “Doing that on a river is a challenging assignment,” said the engineer.