Shattering all past records of replicas in India, the West Bengal government has taken India by surprising with its newly constructed replica of London’s Big Ben.
The 90-feet tall tower stands at the busy junction of Lake Town-VIP Road crossing in northeast Kolkata. Local MLA Sujit Bose and South Dumdum Municipality chairman Mriganka Bhattacharya had planned to build a mini Big Ben at Lake Town after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that she wanted to make Kolkata as prosperous as London within a matter of years.
The Anglo Swiss Company has built the structure with a budget of around Rs 1.3 crore. The adjoining canal at the crossing had earlier been beautified and turned into a jogger's walkway last year. The replica of Big Ben is one of the first of its kind and is sure to catch attention of the pandal-hopping crowd during the upcoming Durga Puja festival.