Tender for 3 bridges to connect beaches on Nov 20

Kolkata: The tender for construction of three bridges that will link the popular sea beach destinations of East Midnapore like Digha, Mandarmani, Sankarpur and Tajpur will be floated on November 20. This was decided in a high-level meeting at Digha on Tuesday chaired by state Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants to project Digha as an international tourist destination. These three bridges will connect the four popular sea beaches through a single stretch by the sea shore. The road infrastructure is ready. The three bridges will complete the link," Hakim said.

Chairman of Digha Sankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) Sisir Adhikari said that the construction of the three bridges will be completed in a year's time. The three bridges will entail a cost of Rs 181.64 crore. "We have found out that tourists in Digha often do not want to stay there for more than a day. The network connecting the sea beaches will enable them to enjoy the beauty of the sea in a much shorter time and they will easily be able to witness the beauty of the sea beaches in a day. Sea water will directly pass under a bridge while under the other two, tidal water will pass. The road will be decked up with state-of-the-art facilities," Adhikari said.

Hakim on Tuesday also took stock of the work for the world class convention centre that is coming up in Digha. "The piling work has already been completed. We hope that it will take a year to finish the construction work," the minister said.

The convention centre will have two auditoria with capacity of 1,200 and 500 respectively. It will have a hotel of international standard with fifty rooms. "The convention centre will hold big ticket trade meets and captains of industry would converge," Hakim said.