KOLKATA: Intense lobbying by the
Kolkata Police, which are desperate to curb accidents at the Chingrighata intersection on EM Bypass, has convinced the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (
KMDA) to cut the traffic island at the main crossing by 10m to facilitate smoother movement of vehicles and realign the zebra-crossing there to help pedestrians cross the flanks in a safer way.
KMDA workers started cutting away at the island on Tuesday for which the traffic signal at the crossing with the road leading to Sector V (Salt Lake Bypass) had to be dismantled. As a result, police said, the wait for commuters travelling from the Nicco Park-side would get longer as hand-held signals would be used for now. “We expect the work to get over in the next two to five days,” said a senior official at
Lalbazar. A smaller island will mean a broader EM Bypass, offering more space to vehicles at the point where Salt Lake Bypass (the road leading from Sector V, Salt Lake) meets EM Bypass, which often proves inadequate in the evening and morning rush hours. “More space will allow us manage traffic better by allowing more vehicles to use the left, from
Nicco Park towards Captain Bheri, than now,” an officer said.
According to the police, people walking out of Sukanta Pally to cross the two flanks of the Salt Lake Bypass, skirting EM Bypass on to the pavement of the JU’s Salt Lake campus side, use a footpath, to which is at a 45° angle with the main thoroughfare. As a result, the pedestrians have to stop midway and then, cross the second flank (
Bypass-Salt Lake). “It’s a slight turn but pedestrians kept complaining that they found it difficult to cross the stretch at one go. They also pointed out that they did not get a linear view, which was obstructed by the traffic island, and that made them vulnerable to accidents,” said an officer. “Now, we will realign the zebra-crossing. Instead of letting pedestrians take the current pavement, skirting EM Bypass, a new zebra crossing will be drawn on the Salt Lake Bypass, at the edge of where the traffic island ends. Then, anyone walking out of Sukanta Pally can cross the two flanks in a straight line, without their views being blocked.”
Some policemen, however, pointed out that this might be a stop-gap measure, till the sanction for two FOBs at the spot came through. A Lalbazar officer said they had written yet again—thrice since the accident at Chingrighata that claimed two lives—to PWD, requesting for the permission for the FOBs, one at Captain Bheri and the other near the canal. KMDA said they were awaiting a technical report from IIT to finalize the plan.
