PM may unveil sound and light show at Howrah Bridge on Jan 11

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may unveil a new sound and light show at the iconic Howrah Bridge on January 11 evening, a senior Kolkata Port Trust official said on Wednesday.

It is a project of Kolkata Port Trust as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations.

The new show is expected to turn into an attraction for tourists and the people of the metropolis.

It will replace the existing decorative lighting with 650 power-efficient LED and spotlightfittings for a programmable multi-colour lighting including a show that will sync with music, he said.

"The prime minister is scheduled to inagurate the sound and light show at Howrah Bridge on January 11 evening. It will be a 2.5 minute show and sound system is installed at the Millenium Park," the KPT official told PTI.

At a later stage, the music is expected to be synced on a mobile app to enable people to enjoy the show from any location besides Millenium Park, which is close to Howrah bridge and on the banks of the Hooghly river, he said.

The official said though multiple combinations of light shows can be programmed, the bridge will be lighted in different colours for about two hours on a daily basis.

Built by the British, the cantilever bridge was opened to the people in 1943 replacing a pontoon bridge at the same location and linking Kolkata and Howrah. KoPT celebrated 75 years of the bridge, which is known as the 'Gateway of Kolkata' in 2018.

The bridge was renamed as Rabindra Setu in 1965.

Considered to be the busiest cantilever bridge in the world, Howrah bridge is an engineering marvel as it does not have nuts and bolts but was formed by riveting the whole structure. It consumed 26,500 tonnes of steel out of which 23,000 tonnes of high-tensile alloy steel, known as Tiscrom, were supplied by Tata Steel.

More than 1.15 lakh vehicles from both Kolkata and Howrah ply on it day, besides over five lakh pedestrians from both sides.