No headway in Howrah project

howrah: one year has passed since the last assembly elections, but many promises made and projects conceived in howrah before the elections are still on paper and their construction work is yet to begin. thirteen months after the foundation stone for the millennium convention centre project was laid by west bengal chief minister buddhadeb bhattacharjee on february 21, 2001, the project is nowhere near completion, and they still remain on the drawing board.the rs 30-crore project, being jointly developed by west bengal transport infrastructure development corporation and i-win, boasts of a market complex, play field, auditorium, high-tech restaurant, a picnic spot and a modern parking area. according to earlier announcements, the work for the project was to begin in june 2001. but the foundation stone was stolen barely two days after it had been laid. and no headway has been made thereafter. work was not started last june and no one knows when the construction work will be completed. i-win managing director d. sengupta was not, however, available for comment. four companies – eih of the oberoi group, park hotels, nicco projects of nicco corporation and real estate group merlin projects – were short-listed by i-win, a joint venture between icici and west bengal government, for development of the millennium convention centre to be built under the vidyasagar setu in howrah. the world class convention centre on the hooghly river will include a permanent structure on the river – the first of its kind in india. the structure to be built on 12 pile caps will have a unique architecture. adjoining to the centre, a four acre land will be available for commercial development. the convention centre project, to be handled by a private company on bot basis, will also have a support system which can be utilised for creating entertainment facilities.