Kolkata : To most Kolkatans, College Street is special: the heritage buildings, the rows of books, Coffee House... you just can't miss the special flavour of this part of the city.

Now, the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) is taking up a project, with assistance from the Centre, to illuminate some heritage buildings in this zone with an environment-friendly lighting system, cleaning up, renovating and decorating the footpath with ornamental lights and iron fencing, installing ornate lighting along the footpaths and placing signages at strategic locations to instruct and inform tourists about the area.

According to a senior WBTDC officer, this is one of the major illumination projects being taken up in Kolkata and the Centre is providing the funds to the tune of `5 crore. The state government is expecting to begin work by November this year.

There will be facade lighting on four buildings Presidency College, Calcutta University and two blocks of Calcutta Medical College. That apart, there will be eight signages installed at several crossings the crossing of College Street-MG Road, entry of Albert Hall from College Street, Presidency College, College Square among them.

Also, ornate architectural railings along the kerb of the footpaths will be placed on three stretches along College Street in front of Calcutta University, in front of Calcutta Medical College and in front of College Square. The railings will be similar to the ones used in BBD Bag, along with ornate street lights low-height Victorian-style street lamps.

There will also be installation of new entrance gates for some of these buildings. College Square during Durga Puja is a huge attraction, and apart from the illumination, signages and railings, there will also be improvement of the College Square itself and that included fencing, illumination and plantation.

"All the lights will be set without disturbing the heritage buildings," said T V N Rao, managing director of WBTDC. "The idea is to make it an attractive tourist destination, which is aesthetically pleasing. The lights are low-cost and low-maintenance," he said. "It will make walking along the footpath a much more pleasing experience as well as help clean the environment." WBTDC is also implementing the project.