KOLKATA: Work on the road and bridge connecting the proposed Balagarh Mini Port in Hooghly began with a foundation ceremony on Monday, as authorities moved ahead with a ₹539-crore project intended to create an alternative cargo facility and reduce pressure on Kolkata’s Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port.
The ceremony was attended by Balagarh MLA and Minister of State for Health Sumana Sarkar, former Hooghly MP Loket Chatterjee, Hooghly District Magistrate Khurshid Ali Qadari and officials from the Public Works Department and the port trust, according to a report by Sangbad Pratidin – Bengal.
The Balagarh Mini Port is planned at Sripur Char in Balagarh, on land that had earlier been acquired in connection with plans for a CESC power plant. The port project will include a four-kilometre approach road, a bridge, a port terminal and two jetties. Officials have said the work is expected to be completed within two years.
The project is being positioned as an infrastructure link between port operations and the wider transport network. Loket Chatterjee said the development would support improvements in rail, waterways and roads, while the district administration said the mini port could contribute to the development of Hooghly.
The proposed facility is also being presented as a source of employment for the area. Direct employment is expected to reach 1,500 people once the mini port becomes operational. The report also cites an estimate that between 15,000 and 20,000 people could gain work opportunities through ancillary industries that may emerge around the port.
Sumana Sarkar described the project as a major development for Balagarh and said construction would be completed within two years. She also said local residents had been cooperative. District Magistrate Khurshid Ali Qadari expressed hope that the mini port would help the district’s economic development.
The project follows the foundation-stone ceremony held in Singur last January by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the report. The latest ceremony relates specifically to the road and bridge that will connect the proposed port site to the surrounding transport network.
For residents, the immediate question is when the connectivity works will be completed and how quickly the terminal and jetties can become operational. The authorities’ stated two-year timeline is the next milestone for a project that combines port infrastructure with road, bridge and employment commitments in Hooghly.
