Broken railings and battered bamboo fences on the median divider and a stream of pedestrians crossing the road almost wherever they want — the Diamond Harbour Road is already an accident-prone thoroughfare.
Police suspect pedestrian traffic could be more chaotic after the start of the Metro link connecting Taratala and Joka.
Commercial Metro services on this stretch is scheduled to start on Sunday, January 1.
Alarmed at the possibility of road accidents going up with the Metro connecting the 6.5-kilometre stretch — with six elevated stations — senior police officers have urged the Public Works Department (PWD), which maintains the road, to immediately restore the railings on the dividers.
A letter addressed to the PWD’s chief engineer and copies sent to the department’s top brass, says fencing the median divider would help reduce crossovers significantly.
“The Diamond Harbour Road remains one of the three top accident-prone arteries in the city along with Basanti Highway and EM Bypass. We have written to the PWD explaining how increased crossover because of broken railings could make it even more difficult for us to manage vehicular movements,” said a senior police officer.
The median divider on Diamond Harbour Road lies beneath the Metro viaduct.
“In some pockets, including the Behala tram depot, Manton, Ajanta cinema and Sakher Bazar it’s just not possible to stop people from trying to run across the road in the absence of railings,” said a senior police officer.
Accident figures reveal there have been at least nine fatal accidents in spots around Behala Chowrasta, Sakherbazar and Barisha in the city’s south in the last eight months.
Officers have identified the tendency of a section of pedestrians to walk across the road as one of the reasons for the high number of accidents.
During an inspection on Tuesday, senior officers manning the traffic said they found stretches near Silpara, Kadamtala, and Sakherbazar on the Diamond Harbour Road most vulnerable since the fencings on the median divider on these spots were completely damaged.
The urgency to write to PWD for repair was also triggered by the threat of vehicle count on this thoroughfare going up significantly during the ensuing Ganga Sagar mela when pilgrims in thousands would be travelling to reach the Sagar island.
Senior PWD officials said they have been working on improving the condition of the road for some time. “Ahead of Ganga Sagar Mela, we complete all necessary repair works after our teams assess what is required on which stretches,” said a senior PWD official.