HOWRAH: Howrah may get a makeover with a proposed 400ft tower to come up in Belilious Park within two years. The concrete structure, with five observation decks, will become the tallest tower in India.

Each observation deck will have powerful telescopes and the tower, though shorter than others in Tokyo, Sydney or Berlin, will dwarf Delhi’s Qutub Minar and Kolkata’s 157ft monument.

Project architect Ramratan Chowdhury said the base of the tower will have a 60ft circumference, which will narrow down in the middle before widening towards the top. The foundation will be 100ft deep.

High speed elevators will carry visitors to the different observation decks, categorized by visitor capacity as well as age of the visitors.

For instance, those aged between 12 and 15, and above 60, will be limited to the third deck, at a height of 240ft, while those between 15 and 60 will be allowed on the highest deck. Children aged 10 will not be allowed beyond the first deck, at 80 feet. Those between 10 and 12 will be allowed till the 160feet-high second deck.

The topmost deck will have a capacity of 60. Each deck will have a coffee shop, a snack bar, an ice-cream parlour and curio shop.

Each visitor will have to undergo a medical check-up at a centre at the base of the tower before being allowed inside, Chowdhury said.

Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty’s HMC will be the implementing agency for the Rs 19-crore PPP project, which is set to come up with technical support from IIEST, Shibpur.

HMC floated an e-tender for the project and selected Panchdeep Construction to build the tower. The Airports Authority of India has also given clearance to build the tower.

Chowdhury said, “Unlike most tall towers in the world, visitors to this tower will not have to climb staircases at all. The high speed elevators, which can carry 16 people at once, will stop at each observation deck. We are in discussion with a Japanese MNC for the manufacture and installation of the high speed elevators.”

In the 365m Berlin tower, for instance, high speed lifts carry visitors upto a height of 200m. From there people climb 3m up a staircase to the observation deck.

Chowdhury, however, added that the structure will have a spiral staircase to make way for visitors in an emergency.

“The tower, when complete, will be a pride of India. Howrah will be the first city in post-Independence India to build a tower like the one we are envisioning. It will become a national landmark,” Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty said.

IIEST director Ajoy Ray said, “Our institution is proud to be associated with a landmark project like this. The structural section of IIEST’s civil engineering department will extend its technical knowhow and expertise in building the proposed tower.”