Kolkata: State finance minister Swapan Dasgupta on Monday announced a Rs 200-crore fund for taking up the ‘Ganga Riverfront Beautification Project’. “I propose the implementation of ‘Ganga Riverfront Beautification Project’ to enhance river based mobility, public spaces, tourism in phased manner. This will include restoration of ghats, building promenades, lighting, vendor management and public amenities with an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore,” Dasgupta said. The state urban development & municipal affairs department has started preparing detailed project reports for renovating and upgrading the ghats along the Hooghly. Officials said that the ghats will be expanded by adding pedestrian walkways, solar lights,changing rooms and setting up structural arrangements to perform ‘Ganga Aarti’.“The chief minister has asked to expand the ghats and clean it up, install solar lights and make arrangements for ‘Ganga Aarti’. Around 20 ghats have been selected for the upgrade. Work will be taken up at the earliest,” state UD&MA minister Agnimitra Paul said, adding that the Hooghly river will be cleaned and the Namami Gange project will be completed.The state govt is currently conducting the Swacch cleanliness drive along the riverfront. A stipulated time period has been given to vendors conducting business and citizens to transition to cloth or jute alternatives instead of single-use plastics.The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority has been planning to prepare a masterplan for pollution abatement in the Ganges and its tributary basin in Kolkata Metropolitan Area for the projected population on 2042, with focus on liquid waste management, interception and diversion of sewerage network connections and bridging the gap of sewage and septage treatment capacity around river centric cities and towns.
