CM inaugurates Biswa Bangla Gate, doors to open for public on Feb 2

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the Biswa Bangla Gate from the dais of the 43rd Kolkata International Book Fair on Thursday afternoon.

The Gate will be opened for the public on Saturday. The visitors will have to book tickets online and entry fee will be Rs 100. Forty five visitors will be allowed at a time and they can spend one hour.

There will be a coffee shop where snacks will be sold. There will also be a shop to sell souvenirs, as well as a selfie zone. The gate will be opened at 12 noon and closed at 6 pm. There is a viewers' gallery where the visitors can enjoy the beautiful skyline of the city.

The opening of the Biswa Bangla Gate before the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) which is scheduled to be held on February 7 and 8, adds a new feather to the cap of New Town which is coming up as a major cultural, business, educational and tourist hub. To make the Biswa Bangla Gate a secure one, experts of RITES had been appointed to conduct a study. They had submitted a report and their suggestions have been incorporated. A team from Kanpur IIT had conducted the wind tunnel test for the structure. The visitors' gallery is around 25 metres above the ground. Visitors can use the lifts on one side of the gate to reach the gallery and the cafeteria. The visitors' gallery along with the cafeteria has been surrounded by glass, which will be part of the wall. The construction of the gate has involved around 70 tonne of steel. The idea of the gallery has been conceived from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, while the cafeteria has been inspired by the hanging cafeteria of Malaysia.

The construction of the gate had begun on March 6, 2017. Though the construction ended as per schedule, Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) had left no stones unturned to examine the safety features.