MillenniumPost
Bengal

British-era paddle steamer to make a comeback on Hooghly

kolkata: Built in the UK's Dumbarton Shipyard in 1940s, a paddle steamer 'PS Bhopal' is likely to make a comeback on the Hooghly river soon and is expected to give a fillip to the Kolkata Port's heritage tour programme, officials said on Sunday.

The makeover of the 62.6-metre long and 2.4-metre wide vessel is being done in a private yard near the eastern metropolis."The renovation of the vessel is almost complete and it is expected to sail on the Hooghly river soon, maybe in the next couple of months. Once the steamer starts operation, it will give an impetus to our heritage tour programme as the new-look 'PS Bhopal' will accommodate more heritage enthusiasts than the existing ship, used for such tours," Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata Chairman Vinit Kumar said.

The private party involved in renovating and operating the heritage vessel will use it for commercial purposes in lieu of a royalty payment of Rs 50,000 to the port authorities, he said.

The overhaul of the 80-year-old vessel is being executed at a cost of over Rs 3 crore, he said.

'PS Bhopal' was part of a flotilla of steamers that were brought from the UK during the British period and deployed mostly on rivers of the undivided Bengal to pull cargo boats, and many of these vessels are still available in neighbouring Bangladesh, said Goutam Chakraborty, honorary heritage advisor of SMP, Kolkata.The paddle ship which had two large paddles on either side driven by steam engines, had sailed on the Hooghly river for years before it was turned into a training ship, he said.

In a bid to restore the historic value of the ship, the authorities of the riverine port decided to keep the paddle and old machines as artefacts in the renovated vessel but steam engines will no longer be used, Chakraborty said.

Next Story
Share it