The West Bengal government had approached the British Deputy High Commission in 1997. It was decided that experts from the London Rivers Association (LRA) would be invited to the city to help develop both sides of the Hooghly between the Rabindra Setu and the Vidyasagar Setu.

Subsequently, a series of exchange visits were organised through 1998 and 1999. The first and perhaps the only result of this was the inauguration of the Millennium Park in December 1999.

In 2000, after a workshop in Kolkata titled “A meeting by the riverfront”, the team of consultants from London suggested the formation of a task force comprising the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), the Kolkata Port Trust, the KMC Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the Howrah Municipal Corporation, NGOs and Indian Chamber of Commerce.

A series of meetings took place between the LRA team and the task force in 2001 and 2002 recommending the refurbishment of the Prinsep Ghat, further development of the Millennium Park and initiation of a Kolkata River Festival. Any action is yet to be taken on the recommendations.

In 2002, Urban Development minister and the then CEO of CMDA, Prabadh Das, met LRA officials in London, which led to a seminar on refurbishment of Strand Road warehouses in April 2003.

The report was submitted to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattcharjee in 2003.

Recommendations for the warehouses included keeping intact the basic facade of the warehouses, and restorations to house new beneficial businesses. Nothing has been witnessed on this front till date.

As a token relief, after five years some work has finally started on the beautification of some of the ghats along the river.

“We have undertaken the work of refurbishing some of the ghats in the beginning of 2008. The work should be completed in 18 months,” said urban development minister Ashok Bhattacharya.