KMC mulls beautification of Gwalior Ghat

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is planning to beautify Gwalior Ghat with the primary objective of making it more suitable for immersion of idols.

A high-level meeting in this connection was chaired by Member, Mayor-in-Council (Parks and Gardens) Debasish Kumar at KMC on Tuesday, in presence of officials from Kolkata Port Trust, Kolkata Police and Railways.

An NGO has already prepared a model on the beautification of the ghat, which was shown to all stakeholders present in the meeting.

"There is a tremendous pressure of immersion of idols, particularly of Ma Durga and her entourage at Baje Kadamtala Ghat. If we can have better facilities for immersion at Gwalior Ghat, the immersion process can be smoother and less time consuming, with two adjacent ghats having immersion simultaneously," said Kumar. As per plan, there will be seating arrangements, toilet facilities and modern changing rooms for women in the ghat. The stairs leading to the ghat, which is circuitous in pattern, will also be made more user-friendly.

Gwalior Ghat is responsible for holding rituals in connection with various religious functions and pujas as well as performing last rites of people.

There are around 16 ghats in the city where immersion takes place. A crane barge is deployed with minimum 30 labourers at Baje Kadamtala Ghat, where the immersion of bigger idols takes place.

At Gwalior Ghat, where immersion of smaller idols take place, launches with boats and ropes for containment of idols within a zone is done and thereafter they are pulled manually by labourers. Once removed from the ghats, the idols are taken away by recyclers deployed by KMC.

The Kolkata Port Trust is the custodian of the ghats, so its nod is needed before beginning work for beautification.