1 km-long bridge to connect Gosaba and Gadkhali islands

The state government has taken up a project to construct 1 km-long bridge connecting Gosaba and Gadkhali islands in Sunderbans in South 24 Parganas.

The decision has been taken to ensure better connectivity in the Sunderbans area and to fulfill a longstanding demand of the locals.

It may be mentioned that the Mamata Banerjee government has taken up several initiatives to improve connectivity in the Sunderbans and it has resulted in an increase in the development of the area's economy.

The tourism sector in the region has received a massive facelift with better roads and proper connectivity.

In a bid to make the journey to the villages in Sunderbans easier, the state government has decided to construct a bridge connecting Gadkhali and Gosaba. The bridge stretching around 1,047 metre (around 1 km) with approach roads of another 1 km will get connected with Basanti Highway on the Gadkhali side.

Thus, with the completion of the construction of the bridge, people from the city can access the motorable road to reach the villages situated in the remotest interior of the Sunderbans.

The bridge will be constructed at a cost of Rs 284 crore and the project has been funded by the Sunderbans Development Authority.

The state Public Works Department has been given the task to construct the bridge. The department has already completed the initial work of setting up the bridge and now the tender will be floated to engage a company that will undertake the work on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis. Under this method, the private company that will be engaged will design and at the same time construct the bridge. The design will get approved by any of the Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) before the private company initiates the construction work.

Engineer from the state PWD will be supervising the entire project.

The state PWD had prepared a detailed project report to assess the cost of constructing the bridge.

The process of identification of land that is required to build the bridge is almost complete and necessary surveys have also been done.

At present, people need to cross river Gadkhali by boat to reach Gosaba.

One needs to risk his or her life to cross the river on a boat even if the weather is hostile.

Moreover, people face innumerable troubles to

take patients to hospitals. According to experts, completion of the construction of bridge will give a facelift to entire Gosaba.