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A 100-metre ramp over the Hooghly that was the missing link in Mamata Banerjee’s vision of a 5km riverside walkway from Vidyasagar Setu to Howrah bridge has received the army’s in-principle approval after two years.
Permission to build the ramp near Babughat had been withheld because of security-related rules regarding riverside construction. The project still requires the defence ministry’s nod but that is a formality after Fort William’s nod, sources said.
“Unless some serious issue crops up, an in-principle approval generally means that Delhi will give its permission in writing after some time,” said a defence ministry official posted in Calcutta.
Officials of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), which is in charge of the riverside beautification project, were informed about the army’s in-principle approval during a meeting at the new state secretariat last Monday.
For anyone who chooses to work up a sweat walking the 5km stretch, the reward will be a stunning view of the riverscape along with some of Calcutta’s landmark structures on the other side.
It fits into chief minister Mamata’s plan of adding value to the riverfront beautification project. “This is not just beautification. We have developed a theme centred on our culture and heritage. We will bring London to Calcutta. Let us try for a better tomorrow,” she had said while unveiling the project in 2011.
The 5km walkway connecting Prinsep Ghat, near Vidyasagar Setu, and Armenian Ghat, below Howrah bridge, would be split without a 100-metre river ramp in the middle of the route.
“If the ramp isn’t there, one would have to step on the road near Babughat after covering one stretch of the walkway and then hop over to the second stretch.
“Our plan is to make the walkway a complete stretch connecting the two iconic structures of Calcutta, Howrah bridge and Vidyasagar Setu. The chief minister has always wanted this option to be available to anyone inclined to walk and enjoy the view on either side,” a CMC official said.
Fort William, the Eden Gardens, Calcutta High Court and the regional headquarters of the SBI are among the structures partly or fully visible from the walkway.
The 5km stretch will also offer a view of six ghats, including the teeming Babughat and Prinsep Ghat as well as the lesser known Gwalior and Fairlie. Three stations of the Circular Railway — Prinsep Ghat, Eden Gardens and BBD Bag — are along the route, too.
Officials said the 5km walkway would be secluded from the hubbub of the ghats without distancing the person walking down that route from the sights and smells of the ghats, ferry depots and Circular Railway stations.
Work on beautifying the riverside had started in early 2011, but only a 1.7km stretch between Prinsep Ghat and the southern end of Babughat is open to visitors as of now. The CMC and the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is working on the rest of the 5km stretch between Armenian Ghat and the northern end of Babughat.
No construction can start along the 100-metre gap between the two ends of Babughat without the army’s approval. Several rounds of meetings involving the state government, CMC and the army had failed to find a solution until a breakthrough on October 31.
“One of our engineers visited Delhi to meet officials of the defence ministry. As advised by them, we gave an undertaking to the local army authorities that in the event of any emergency, we would dismantle the ramp,” a source in the civic body said.
The 100-metre walkway will run parallel to the Circular Railway tracks at Babughat. “It will be a steel ramp above the Hooghly. There will be two pillars at the two ends and a railing,” the source said. “Hopefully, we will be able to throw open the 5km stretch by the end of next year. We are waiting for the defence ministry’s green signal to start work.”
The beautification blueprint includes the stretch from Taktaghat in the south to Pramanik Ghat in the north. Both these ghats lie beyond the Prinsep and Armenian ghats.