The railway overbridge in Chitpore in north Kolkata will be pulled down now that the construction of the Tallah bridge is complete, the urban development department has decided.
Hemanta Setu, the new Tallah bridge, was thrown open for the movement of small vehicles on Saturday. The Chitpore overbridge on Cossipore Road stands over the railway yard and connects Bagbazar in north Kolkata with parts of Chitpore, Cossipore and Baranagar.
A railway level crossing is beneath the bridge. This railway overbridge is different from the Chitpore bridge which was built in 1843 and stands over the circular canal. A committee of experts on bridges and flyovers had termed the railway overbridge in Chitpore as “beyond repair” and said that it needs to be pulled down.
“Two years back we had realised that the railway overbridge on Cossipore Road is beyond repair. But we had to wait for the construction of the Tallah bridge to be over. It will be pulled down now,” said Amitabha Ghoshal, an expert on bridges and flyovers and who heads the committee to study the condition of bridges and flyovers in Kolkata.
“The brick arches underneath have become weak and there are certain defects that can’t be repaired.”
The brick arches of the overbridge have become weak but what’s more threatening is that close to 70-odd families live under the arches. Senior officials of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), the state government agency that maintains the brick and concrete structures, met their counterparts from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) recently to decide on the process of demolishing the structure.
Rehabilitation of the families living under the overbridge arches was also discussed.
“We have sought a piece of land from the railways on rent close to the railway overbridge where temporary structures can be built to accommodate these families,” said Tarun Saha, chairman of KMC’s borough 1.
“The mayor has conveyed KMC’s willingness to pay the rent to the railways for using its land. We are now waiting for a nod,” Saha said.