West Bengal: 200 illegal shops demolished along Belgharia E-way

KOLKATA: The Barrackpore police commissionerate has launched an eviction drive to remove encroachers along Belgharia Expressway to widen the road as the Belgharia Expressway and Kalyani Expressway will be connected with an elevated corridor soon.
Police used a JCB excavator to demolish the illegal shops on both flanks of the expressway at Nimta, Baranagar, Belgharia, Durganagar, Dum Dum and North Dum Dum civic areas. Around 200 illegal shops on the 1.3 km stretch have been already demolished, police said.
The state government decided to connect both the expressways with an elevated corridor as that would reduce the journey by a few kilometres for those who want to take Kalyani Expressway directly from Belgharia.
The 40-km-long Kalyani Expressway that starts from Nimta in North 24 Parganas connects the city with Kalyani in Nadia district. Heavy vehicles from Burdwan, Hooghly and Howrah could easily avail the by-pass route to take the Kalyani Expressway.
Taking the 8km Belgharia Expressway from Dakshineswar is the shortest route to the airport if one comes from Baranagar, Belgharia or from adjoining districts, including Howrah and Hooghly. Vehicles for north Bengal which pass through Belgharia Expressway could also take the elevated corridor to reach Kalyani Expressway.
A temporary police camp has been set up at Nimta to supervise the drive. A large police contingent from police stations, including Dum Dum, Nimta and Baranagar led by Ajoy Prasad, DCP, South zone, Barrackpore commissionerate were deployed.
“State highway development authority had issued a notice 10 days ago to remove shops from the stretch. Some shop owners had removed their temporary shops. Many had to be demolished to clear the 1.3 km expressway stretch as it would be connected with Kalyani Expressway,” Ajoy Prasad, DCP, South Zone, Barrackpore commissionerate, said.