Gangasagar Mela: Mamata lays foundation stone for bridge, Suvendu calls it her 'latest bluff'

Gangasagar /Kolkata, Jan 5 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee on Monday laid the foundation stone of a 5-km-long bridge over a river to connect the Sagar Island, known for Gangasagar Mela, with the mainland, while BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari denounced it as "the latest bluff" of the TMC government.

She also awarded contract of the Rs 1,700 crore project to construction major Larsen & Toubro.

Named 'Gangasagar Setu', the bridge will provide all-weather road connectivity to Sagar Island, located at the confluence of the Muriganga River and the Bay of Bengal in South 24 Parganas district, where lakhs of pilgrims from across the country take their holy dip at the beach adjacent to the Kapil Muni temple on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

At present, Sagar Island is accessible only by ferry services, which are often riddled with bottlenecks during the annual Gangasagar Mela due to heavy pilgrim inflow, fog and tidal conditions.

The project was announced ahead of the assembly elections which are likely to be held in March-April.

At a formal ceremony held at the island where documents were exchanged by officials of the state government, which is funding the project, and those of L&T, the chief minister took an indirect potshot at the BJP, saying her government believes in working and not making hollow noise.

Noting that she is proud of the people of the remote region facing road connectivity issues owing to the river in between, she said, "We do not make hollow noises, we work to fulfil our promises." Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, however, asserted that no matter what Banerjee's claims were, she will never be able to undertake the project since she neither had the mandatory clearance from the Centre, nor had acquired "a single decimal of land" to construct the approach roads to the proposed bridge.

"This is the CM's latest bluff in line with her promises of one lakh employment at the Deucha Pachami coal mine and the non-starter deep sea port at Tajpur. I fail to comprehend how someone can resort to such falsehoods standing at the Kapil Muni Ashram in Gangasagar," Adhikari said.

Banerjee, after laying the foundation stone, said the bridge will be a boon for the millions of pilgrims visiting the Kapil Muni temple, as well as for tourists and locals.

Asked about her earlier demands to the BJP-led central government for construction of a bridge to connect Sagar island with the mainland, she said that her government would never beg and decided to rather fund it on its own.

The four-lane bridge will be built between Lot 8 at Kakdwip on the mainland and Kachuberia on the island.

"This has been a long-standing demand of this region and I am proud that it will be fulfilled in another two to three years," she said.

Banerjee said the bridge will not only ensure smooth movement of people, but will also promote trade and reduce price of commodities on the island.

"It will lead to job creation, enhance educational facilities for students from the island, help agricultural product movement and tourism," the chief minister said.

She added that the construction of the bridge will also help faster rescue and relief operations on the island, which is located on the coast of the Bay of Bengal and is prone to cyclones.

Arguing that the Muriganga River is part of the country's national waterway on which ships sail to reach the international waters, Adhikari claimed that the state government has neither initiated any process to secure the mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Centre, nor has it floated any tender for the construction of the bridge.

"I have spoken to both Sarbananda Sonowal, Union minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, as well as with Shantanu Thakur, the MoS concerned, on this matter. I can confirm that the state government has made no move to process the mandatory NOC. I challenge Mamata Banerjee to provide the NOC for national waterways," Adhikari said.

Seeking to see the tender notification for the project and the related work order, the BJP leader asked, "In which newspaper, TV channel or internet portal has it been published?" He alleged that the state has made no land acquisition so far for constructing the approach roads to the proposed bridge.

"Even though the bridge is supposed to be built over the Muriganga River, its approach roads would be on the adjacent lands. I can confirm that not a single decimal land has been acquired for that as yet," Adhikari said.

The Leader of Opposition also alleged that the government has not conducted soil tests for the bridge construction and has not drawn up the request for proposal (RFP), soliciting interests from companies for the proposed project.

"Can she go on telling people anything simply because she has an election to fight?" he asked.

Adhikari maintained that an ordinary bridge on the river won't serve the dual purpose of mainland connectivity without hampering movement of large vessels. Only a bridge having vertical lift facility, like the Pamban Rail Bridge at Rameshwaram, can be the solution here, he claimed.

"The BJP will construct a bridge over there with central government funds involving its national and inland waterways wings similar to the Rameshwaram bridge. You cannot do it, because you don't have the necessary clearances and you haven't acquired land," Adhikari said pointing toward the chief minister. PTI AMR SMY NN