BISWA BANGLA GATE: KOLKATA’S NEW ICON Biswa Bangla Gate, popularly known as Kolkata Gate, is the new icon of a rising Bengal, the same way London Eye is for the UK and Eiffel Tower is for Paris. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has left no stone unturned in trying to make a new Bengal and not so long ago, she came up with the idea of having a gateway to modern Kolkata, one that would welcome tourists, entrepreneurs, scholars, guests and people of all talent as they landed at the airport and began driving into the city. It would be a gateway so iconic that no one would be left in any doubt that Bengal is rising and the new Bengal is here and now. HUNT FOR THE PERFECT LOCATION The first and obvious choice for the proposed structure was on VIP Road or Kazi Nazrul Islam Sarani, near Haldiram’s, a prominent landmark food court near the left-turning flyover from the airport, which kind of marked the entry into New Town, but there was hardly any space ...