Buses, vessels, trams decked up in World Cup theme

Kolkata: The City of Joy is gearing up for another extravaganza beginning October 6.

As the Durga Puja concludes, it gives way to the much anticipated FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Kolkata. In a bid to increase the thrill and excitement, the state Transport department is giving a completely new look based on the World Cup theme to the exterior of its buses, vessels and trams, which is considered to be a heritage of Kolkata.

It may be mentioned that the FIFA authorities have lauded the state government for transforming the Salt Lake stadium to a world class one. Similarly, the state Transport department has also taken several initiatives so that the buses can also be given a different look and feel as it is often seen on the roads in developed countries.

Suvendu Adhikari, the state Transport department, said: "Transport department has a major role in the FIFA Under-17 Football World Cup. There will be around 600 buses mostly air-conditioned ones that will be plying during the tournament. The buses have already been decorated and some have also hit the city roads."

"Besides promotion of the tournament, the decoration on the buses based on the World Cup theme will give a feel good factor. So the decision has been taken to go ahead with the decoration of buses, trams and vessels to promote the mega event for which Kolkata is the host," an official said adding that there are captions like "Ebar Khela Jombe Bangla!" and "Biswa Banglae Biswa Cup" printed on the exterior of the buses besides the World Cup logo. Similarly, exterior of trams will also be decorated.

The state Transport department has decided to ply additional 600 air-conditioned (AC) buses on the day of the matches for convenience of football lovers. It includes 150 app-buses which may be booked through a cell phone app. Besides, the app buses, most of the buses which will be operated by the state Transport department are getting decorated as per the theme of the World Cup. The buses in which students of schools and colleges will be brought to the stadium are also being decked up, the official added.

According to a senior official of the state Transport department, there are around 10 trams whose exteriors will be decorated based on the theme. At least one tram in each route will get decorated so that it covers the entire city. The trams that are getting decorated will ply on routes including Belgachia to Esplanade, Nonapukur to Esplanade, Tollygunge to Ballygunge, Tollygunge to Esplanade via Kidderpore and Bidhangar Station to Esplanade via Phoolbagan.

Vessels those operating to ferry people across River Hooghly on routes including Belur Math-Dakshineswar and from different jetties in Kolkata to Howrah will also be decked up.

The official said a large number of tourists use the launch services everyday to cross the river to reach Belur Math from Dakshineswar and vice versa.