Kolkata: The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) will soon begin work for installing multi-coloured LED lights to light up the Rabindra Setu, popularly known as Howrah Bridge, which is celebrating its 75 years this year.
"Four to five top notch companies having expertise in illumination have already made their presentation. We are trying to figure out which one will be the best among them. The LED lights will be installed keeping in mind the heritage aspect of the structure. We hope to float the tender in two to three months," KoPT chairman Vinit Kumar said.
The KoPT is also keeping in mind the cost factor before going for the tender as the estimates for decorating the bridge given by the companies is varying between Rs 15 to 19 crore.
A senior KoPT official said that they have plans to set up the lights in a manner so that the colour and theme can be changed during occasions. For example, the lighting on Independence Day will echo the colours of the country's national flag.
The KoPT has planned the illumination to be of international standard, which will be an attraction in itself like San Francisco Bridge, George Washington Bridge at Manhattan, New York and Sydney Harbour Bridge of Australia, whose lighting enthralls people from all parts of the globe.
It may be mentioned that in 2006, Howrah Bridge was decked up with sodium vapour lights but they soon turned dim.
Howrah Bridge, which since its inception continues to evoke the same kind of curiosity and awe as it did seventy five years ago, has a suspended span over the Hooghly River.
Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it replaced a pontoon bridge at the same location linking the two cities of Howrah and Kolkata (Calcutta).
On June 14, 1965, it was renamed Rabindra Setu after the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, who was the first Indian and Asian Nobel laureate.
It may be mentioned that the Howrah Bridge ferries more than 1.15 lakh vehicles on a daily basis from both Kolkata and Howrah. More than 5 lakh pedestrians also cross the bridge every day from both directions, easily making it the busiest cantilever bridge in the world.
The third-longest cantilever bridge at the time of its construction, the Howrah Bridge is currently the sixth-longest bridge of its type in the world.