Kolkata Gate or Biswa Bangla Gate has been set up by The Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation on the Major Arterial Road at Narkelbagan, Action Area - I of New Town, Kolkata. The gate along with the restaurant is now open for public. The visitors gallery and restaurant is surrounded by glass, which will be part of the wall. From here, one can seea lot of parts of New Town, Bidhannagar, Rajarhat and Kolkata. It is a type of Welcome gate and is built by HIDCO, under the government of West Bengal. The design was finalised by calling for submission of designs through a public notice in web sites as well as newspaper advertisements. A committee headed by Architect Dulal Mukherjee was formed which evaluated the designs from various architects from around the country. The design by M/s Vector Designs, a Pune-based architecture firm was recommended by the committee. A work order was soon issued now that the design was accepted by the Board of Directors of HIDCO. The hotel is successfully running with both staircases and a lift that carries visitors to the hotel and provide a marvelous view of Neo city Newtown.
The Kolkata Gate design was made public in 2015. The construction of the Gate started on 6 March 2017. The construction of the Gate will use around 70 tons of steel. The total cost of the construction of the Gate is expected to be around ₹25 crore. For the design of the iconic structure, a national design competition was organized and a committee headed by architect Dulal Mukherjee, oversaw design plans from architects from all over the country. Most were variations of the inverted ‘U’ and catered to the wish of making the Gate a utility structure as well. The project finally went to M/S Vector Designs, a Pune based company. The construction was carried out by a Pune firm Construction Catalysers Pvt.limited. The plan initially was to have just a viewing gallery, but later on, it was decided to have a night-time restaurant as well. Work on the proposed structure began on March 6, 2017. Steel plates were used and two inverted parabolas were erected. Not a single piece of steel was curved and the whole structure was made from flat steel. Around 70 tons of steel were used with the top portion elevated at 55 metres. All points were rigorously tested. The first sign of trouble came when the rings had to be elevated to the proposed height of 25 metres. The arch wasn’t a problem since it was from the sides, but with the rings came a major traffic issue. To elevate the rings, the cross roads, on which the gate is constructed, needed to be closed down. Work was to be done through the night, between 11 pm and 5 am and permission for the same was taken from the police. The ring had four parts, two large and two small. The problem was lifting the larger parts to their designated spots and for that a full 48 uninterrupted hours would be required. That became one of the main causes for delay. Finally, the work went on uninterrupted over one whole weekend, with minimum inconvenience to traffic and the rings were elevated using large cranes. Curved, double glazed glasses, brought all the way from Bengaluru, were used in the ring. More than 20 per cent of these glasses broke on the way to Kolkata and replacing them consumed even more time. The fire department then wanted staircases along with the Glass Capsule lifts as a safety measure since it was to be for public use and spiral staircases had to be installed. The initial plan for the structure also included a Biswa Bangla Globe to be installed. One day, while it was being pulled up, the chain snapped and it crashed to the ground. Thankfully, no one was around at that time, but it was decided not to get another globe up again. Today, the Gate stands at 55 meters - A ring — situated at a height of 25 metres and with a diameter of 220 meters around the Kolkata Gate - is a restaurant, a viewing gallery, a cafeteria and a curio shop. The ring has the support of four arc-like pillars from four sides. Decorative paintings of luminaries have been drawn on the wall inside the ring with the outer side having a glass facade to have a view of the township. Not more than 50 visitors are allowed inside the ring at a time.
Specification
This gate is about 55 meters high. The circular tunnel made for the viewers is approximately 25 meters above the ground. Visitors can climb up the lifts on one side of the Gate. Decorating of the tunnel is done with several photographs of the Bengali culture, with adaptation. The outer part of the entire tunnel has lighting. The logo "Welcome to Kolkata" is put up on the ring structure to greet the incoming vehicles. The tunnel provides a 360 degrees view of Newtown with all its scenic beauty.
Reaction
This hanging restaurant is developed as a part of Newtown's beauty project. From the idea of Visitor's Gallery in Paris's Eiffel Tower and hanging restaurant in Malaysia, HIDCO has built this gate and the accompanying hanging restaurant.
