The Bengal government has decided to build a welcome gate at the southern end of Cooch Behar, the heritage town that is known for its palace and a series of other buildings which were built by the erstwhile princely state.

“The construction of the welcome gate has commenced at Khagrabari, which is the entry point of the town. We hope that the work will finish in a couple of months. The gate has been designed in consonance with the gothic architecture of the palace and other heritage buildings,” said a senior official of the district administration.

Sources said the Cooch Behar Heritage Committee had received a number of designs for the welcome gate and chosen one of them and forwarded the same to the state heritage commission. In May last year, the commissionapproved the design, following which the state public works department was assignedthe task of executing the project.

“The welcome gate will have 17 metres in length and 16 metres in width. A sum of Rs 1.45 crore will be spent on the construction. For the project, high-tension power cables were shifted underground to ensure that the view of the gate is not blocked. Another Rs 32 lakh have been spent to shift the cables,” the official said.

Cooch Behar, which was described as the “City of Beauty” by prominent Bengali novelist Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay, has a number of heritage buildings ranging from clubs to rest houses to temples. The town is also dotted with large water bodies, often referred to as “Dighis”.

In the past few years, the state heritage commission notified around 155 structures and installations as heritage properties. A number of old buildings were renovated, water bodies like Sagar Dighi and Bairati Dighi were cleaned and landscaping was done on the banks.

“The gate will be an added attraction in the town. It will draw more tourists to Cooch Behar,” said Shefali Ghosh, a retired schoolteacher.