52 cops from across Kolkata man 60m stretch in Chingrighata

KOLKATA: As the clock strikes 9am on Wednesday, sergeant Anirban Majhi, manning the Chingrighata main island, tries to convince Malati Sardar, who is on her bicycle, to wait for the signal to turn green to cross over. “Amra apnar bhalor jonnoi ekhane achhi. Fine korte noi (We are here for your safety. We are not here to fine you),” he pleads with Sardar. But she is not convinced. “I have lived here for two decades, I know how to take care of myself,” she shouts back. It needs a constable to literally stand in front of her cycle to stop her.



After the death of two college students earlier this year, the men in uniform are walking the extra mile to avoid a repeat in the risk zone, which has been marked as the “most accident-prone stretch in the city”. The sheer number of traffic cops posted here is mind-boggling, but given the challenges — from streamlining pedestrians and begging with locals to rebuking errant drivers — the law enforcers have a tough job at hand.

“It is so difficult to inculcate discipline here. Pedestrians refuse to use the zebra crossing, jaywalkers start walking on EM Bypass after getting off buses at undesignated stops. You literally need to block them, run after them and force them to return to safety and at times even plead with them to make them understand,” rued a senior officer present at the spot.

At present, there are 26 men on duty in the short stretch between Chingrighata crossing and Captain Bheri. The Beliaghata traffic guard, located right at the crossing, contributes two sergeants, two traffic constables and four civic volunteers. As many as 16 others are pooled in from other traffic guards, depending on “availability.” Two men from Bidhannagar Police also man the Sukanta Pally entry. Thus, while on some days you have neighbouring guards like Ultadanga and Survey Park filling in the shoes, on others, men are sent from traffic guards located as far away as Howrah bridge and Diamond Harbour Road.

There are two shifts lasting eight hours each — the first is between 6am and 2pm and the other is between 2pm and 10pm. However, for the inspectors and sergeants, there are no fixed duty hours. In other words, 52 policemen are posted at Chingrighata crossing every day to prevent accidents. “It is an important stretch linking the airport and Sector V with the rest of the city. VIP movements are common here. Yet, it really hurts when a moment’s lack of concentration due to a VIP movement leaves one injured (like last Sunday) for no fault of ours,” rued a sergeant.

During a visit to Chingrighata on Wednesday, TOI found the cops’ worries were not unfounded. “We are sorry for the inconvenience, but this is for your your own safety,” traffic seargeant Dipak Kar patiently explained to Rupali Ghosh, a housewife who was upset that she would have to walk that extra stretch from the Shantinagar bus shelter to Captain Bheri.

When the traffic lights turned red, cops guided people to cross over using the zebra crossing. “Residents of Shantinagar are demanding a traffic signal there. We cannot have one every 100 metres on EM Bypass. So we are doing this additional duty,” Kar added.