Commuters had been counting the days till the Salt Lake-Kestopur bridge opened but in less than a month of its inauguration several accidents have occurred on it. While the connector has significantly cut short the distance to the airport and other localities, the stretch has become a risk to life and limb.
The Salt Lake-Kestopur bridge is a two-way link over the Kestopur canal from in between AJ and AK blocks to Kestopur. It was inaugurated just before the Pujas, on September 26, and has immediately become very popular.
Once you cross the bridge from Salt Lake towards Kestopur, you can take two routes. The one going on the left will take you to Dumdum Park and VIP Road, from where you can take a U-turn and make your way to the airport in 20 minutes flat. If you take the right turn, you will reach New Town’s Biswa Bangla Gate in about 30 minutes.
The road on the Salt Lake side. Debasmita Bhattacharjee
But in a matter of weeks the bridge has seen several collisions and most accidents are happening near the entry of the bridge on the Salt Lake side.
Just last week a car that was heading out of Salt Lake via this bridge rammed into a toto that was entering from the opposite side. The drivers were unable to notice each other at the sharp turn on the Kestopur end and the toto driver was badly hurt.
Defunct traffic lights
“The collisions are happening chiefly because of reckless driving on both sides. Add to that the fact that the four sets of traffic signals on either lane don’t work. Even after a month of the bridge being functional, the lights are defunct,” said Indranil Sanyal, a resident of AK Block, who lives very close to the bridge.
Souren Sen, an 80-year-old resident of AK Block says he and other senior citizens who go out for morning and evening walks in the area, are terrified. “So many have got injured here. Who knows when a car rams into us?” he asked. “This spot has seen more accidents than anywhere else in Salt Lake. How could they open the bridge when something as basic as traffic lights were still not functional?”
A defunct traffic signal at the start of the bridge. Debasmita Bhattacharjee
A sub-inspector of traffic, who was posted at the bridge recently, admitted to the perils. “It’s true that the signals are not working. There are four sets of signals on the two sides but they only blink yellow at all times of night and day,” he said.
But the bigger problem, he felt, was that on the Kestopur side, the roads were too narrow, with inadequate space for two vehicles to be moving together at the same time. “As a result, when cars from Kestopur take the turn to get onto the bridge, they can’t see vehicles approaching from the other side. A four-lane road on the Kestopur side needs to be built urgently. We also need more traffic guards; one is not enough.”
Years in the making
Construction had begun on a similar bridge around 2015 but the project was abandoned in early 2016 because of several engineering glitches. The biggest glitch was that while the road to climb onto the bridge from the Salt Lake side was constructed, the one climbing down to Kestopur could not be built because of lack of road space. That structure lies defunct right next to the new bridge, work on which began in 2019 and was completed last month.
“I remember how hopeful we had got when work had started on the first bridge here. We had expected it to lead to development in this area. But now that we finally have a bridge it needs to be safer,” said Sen.
Sanyal recalls a Facebook page titled “Demand (for) Kestopur Salt Lake connecting bridge near tank number 8” that was once set up to highlight the plight of commuters and residents in this area. “Crores of public money went down the drain when the first bridge got abandoned midway. And now that we have a bridge, none of the vehicles are following traffic rules. Cars, rickshaws, autos, motorcycles and bicycles — all move at high speeds without caution,” he said.
Remedies needed
An officer of the traffic department admitted that traffic volume had increased manifold since the new bridge opened. “And as a result, there have been skirmishes though most of them were minor ones between, say, slow-riding cyclists and pedestrians. These may have led to arguments and scuffles but were resolved mutually without involving the police.”
Nonetheless, they are planning to fix rumblers (plastic speed breakers) on the deadly stretch. “Now that Durga and Kali puja are over, our work pressure shall be lighter and we shall be able to deploy even more traffic personnel there. We have almost 15 of them between the bridge and VIP Road but it is evident that more are required. He also said that while some lights there were put on blinkers (auto signals), the most important ones had been switched to regular green and red lights.
But for a long-term solution of building more road space, the situation is in a stalemate.
Mayor Krishna Chakraborty says the land belongs to the irrigation department and so it is up to them to decide how to tackle any problem.
“During the inauguration of the bridge itself, I had requested for a police outpost at the spot,” said the mayor.
"Rather, we are facing a problem ourselves as residents, as the pressure of vehicles has multiplied manifold in the evening from Tank 9 in my own block - CJ."
Debabrata Sarkar, executive engineer, canals department, irrigation and waterways, on the other hand, says they have fulfilled their commitments. “We were asked to design and build the bridge, after which we handed it over to the corporation and the commissionerate. If anything more is required of us, the requisition has to come formally from either of them and the authorities would look into the matter."
“During the inauguration of the bridge itself, I had requested for a police outpost at the spot,” said the mayor. “Rather we are facing a problem ourselves as residents, as the pressure of vehicles has multiplied manifold in the evening from Tank 9 opposite my own block CJ,” said Chakraborty.
Debabrata Sarkar, executive engineer, canals department, irrigation and waterways, says they have fulfiled their commitments. “We were asked to build the bridge, after which we handed it over to the corporation and the commissionerate. If anything more is required of us, the requisition has to come formally from either of them and the matter would be looked into .”