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Somasroy Chakraborty

Kolkata May 27

Following its plans to promote water sports in the River Hoogly, the West Bengal Government is also looking at promoting river cruise tourism through public private partnership, according to Dr G.D. Gautama, Principal Secretary of the West Bengal Tourism Department.

The State Government, together with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Kolkata Port Trust and other municipal bodies, will develop the ghats on the banks of the Hoogly in Kolkata and Howrah.

The private player concerned will provide river cruise facilities. "We have initiated dialogues with the KMC, Kolkata Port Trust and other municipal bodies for development of the ghats.

"These ghats reek of the history of the Raj days. We plan to promote river cruise to Danish, French and Portuguese settlements in and around the ghats," Dr Gautama told Business Line.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage, a non-profit organisation for developing heritage policies, regulations and guidelines, has identified 74 ghats in Kolkata and Howrah.

Of these, only a few have found place in the heritage list of KMC.

Some of these ghats like the Commissariat Jetty and Baja Kadamtala Ghat in Kolkata are either damaged or temporarily dismantled.

Heritage sites

According to Dr Gautama, the State Government also has plans to promote the ghats as heritage sites because of their "historical and cultural value".

When contacted, officials of State Heritage Commission confirmed that the State Government had approached them for joint promotion of heritage tourism in West Bengal.

More Stories on : Tourism | West Bengal

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