Kolkata: West Bengal Tourism has joined hands with West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation to jointly develop a dedicated tourism-cum-river traffic jetty near Babughat here.

The foundation stone for the project was laid here on Tuesday by Mr Ranjit Kundu, Transport Minister, and Mr Manabendra Mukherjee, Minister-in-Charge, Tourism, MSME and Textile.

The project will entail a total investment of Rs 207 lakhs and the infrastructure would be complete within the next 18 months, according to Mr Mr T.V.N. Rao, Managing Director, WBTD.

“The Kolkata jetty is one of the biggest and is the nucleus for international tourists. The jetty will be partly commissioned within the next nine months and will be fully operational within the next 18 months,” Mr Rao said.

The Centre last year sanctioned Rs 20 crore for development of ghats at Belur Math, Srerampore, Chandannagar, Hooghly Chinsura, Nawadwip, Mayapur, Plassey, Murshidabad Lalbagh, Azimganj, Baranagar and Dakshineswar.

The project work at Baharampur and Murshidabad is complete and ready for commission. “The inauguration at these two ghats is expected to happen next month. Work at six out of the other 12 ghats will also be complete by the end of December this year, while the other six is expected to be complete by December 2011,” he said.

According to estimates, close to 39 lakh domestic and foreign tourists visited the heritage ghats on an annual basis. “At present, most of the tourists access these locations by road.