Newly-opened Misti Hub sees staggering footfall on weekend

Kolkata: The newly opened Misti Hub in New Town did brisk business on Saturday and Sunday and people from all across the town had gathered to buy mouth-watering sweets.

The parking bay was full and special parking arrangements were made on the service road. Parking is free on the earmarked area for half an hour. The hub is the only of its kind in Bengal where renowned sweetmakers of Kolkata are sharing the same roof with the traditional sweet meat sellers - the sarbhaja of Krishnanagar, langcha of Shatigarh and with mihidana and sitabhog of east Burdwan. The hub is opened from 12 noon to 9 pm. It will help the airport bound passengers to buy the special sweets of Bengal on way back home. Proper signs will be put up on Biswa Bangla Sarani to facilitate the airport bound buyers.

The 10 branded shops that have been set up at the hub are KC Das, Bancharam, Gupta Brothers, Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick, Ganguram Sweets, Nalin Chandra Das, Mithai, Sweet Bengal, New Nabakrishna Guin and Hindusthan Sweets (shop no. 10).

HIDCO had imposed a condition that those opening shops at the hub must have experience of 25 years or more. A central atrium with glass walls will bring the sunlight inside.

The hub is a combination of tradition and modernity. There will be a caretaker on behalf of Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation ( HIDCO) to look after the facilities. The hub has been built on a shop-in-shop concept. There is a potential market of Bengali sweets both in the country and abroad.

Meetings had been held between the sweet shop owners and HIDCO officials including its chairman Debashis Sen where the idea was discussed. The sweet meat sellers accepted the proposal and the hub has come up near Eco Park.

The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) has made special arrangements to issue trade licences to the shop owners.

All the shop owners have come up with new variety of sweets including the modern ones. They are manufactured and packaged maintaining quality health.

The hub has given opportunity to the residents of New Town and its neighbourhood to buy quality sweets without visiting Kolkata.