State govt opts for PPP to beautify Ganges

The West Bengal government will go for public-private partnership to beautify the Ganges river front in a bid to fulfill Kolkata's London dream, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday.

“I want to turn Kolkata into London. But we don't have the fund and infrastructure like London, to carry out the entire project. London is like a theme to us. Now, we are starting the project in a small way. We will look at a public-private partnership (PPP) model to complete the work,” Banerjee said, inaugurating a pilot project to beautify the river front. In the pilot project one km of river front will be beautified and a 15-20 metre path-way will be constructed.

“The entire beautification project would be done in phases. The Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) has prepared the comprehensive master plan on river front beautification and its commercial uses. In the first phase work will be done in one Km,” she said. Though she did not comment on the fund required for the project, she admitted that the state's financial crisis is a major cause of concern.

“I believe once we are done with pilot project, people will like to partner the project and the funding issue will be resolved. There is business opportunity also as the project will turn the city into an attractive tourist destination. We are also seeking help from the railways and shipping ministry to help the project,” she said. Majority of the river bank is either owned by the Railways or by the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT).

Last year, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) and Indian Railways Friday inked a deal for beautifying the Ganges river front in the presence of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. After Trinamool Congress came to power, the state government has now taken over the project.

The beautification plan intends to beautify and rebuild a total of 20 km (10 km in each side of the river) of the river front.