KOLKATA: The new Metro has come as a boon for thousands on Kolkata’s northern fringes, who have been suffering commuting woes daily in the absence of the Tallah bridge.
“The Dakshineswar Metro link is a gift. I managed to zip from Dunlop to Park Street in 28 minutes for just Rs 20,” said Jayanta Chakraborty, 56, the first commuter to reach Baranagar Metro station at 7.04am on Tuesday. The administrative manager of Apeejay School and resident of R N Tagore Road (near Dunlop) said, “Before this Metro link, I tried all kinds of routes. Sometimes I took an L9 bus from Baranagar to Park Street. I also availed of the Metro from Dum Dum station after an extremely uncomfortable Dankuni local train journey till Dum Dum station. Sometimes I took multiple autos to reach a nearby Metro station.”
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This link may help a lot of commuters but it is imperative that the Tallah bridge is completed as soon as possible.
Belghoria resident Badal Chatterjee echoed, “The Baranagar station is the best thing to have happened to us.” The 58-year-old north Kolkata lifeline or the Tallah road overbridge (ROB), which used to be a crucial link between the city and the northern fringes, had weakened beyond repair and was closed. The state government has fixed a January 2022 deadline to complete the new bridge, which will link BT Road and Shyambazar over the Tallah rail tracks. But officials of PWD, the implementing agency, said more time may be needed for the commissioning. The bridge, under the Eastern Railway’s ambit, needs the zonal railway’s approval at various stages of construction.
So, the 4.1km Dakshineswar extension of the north-south Metro route is being seen as a saviour of office-goers from Dunlop, Bonhooghly, Ariadaha, Belghoria and other areas of the city’s northern fringes. A number of them had been using the Noapara Metro station, roads to which are narrow and pothole-ridden. A few made it to Dum Dum Metro station, which is quite difficult to access because of diversions from BT Road to Paikpara and the Chitpore Lockgate. These areas have become much more congested than before.
“The ride is comfortable through the aesthetically-made stations along the Noapara-Dakshineswar stretch. The elevated tracks go via Baranagar station, which has now emerged as a crucial link,”a Metro Railway official said.