A four-layer barricade built of bamboo poles is being placed near the south gate of Fort William in the early mornings on days when rehearsals for the Republic Day parade are held on Red Road.
The measure is to avert a rerun of 2016 when a speeding Audi had smashed through some of the barricades and run over a 21-year-old air force corporal during a rehearsal.
A “scissor barricade” refers to a structure similar to the rectangular iron barricades with conical sides that are usually seen deployed by the police in law and order situations except that these are made of bamboo.
Since the end of the bamboo poles cross on the top like a scissor, such a barricade is referred to as a “scissor barricade”.
“A scissor barricade is heavier than a usual iron guard rail and sturdier. Since such barricades are made of bamboo, the ability to stop a vehicle after a crash is higher than the usual iron guard rails,” said a senior official of the PWD, which had built the barricades for Kolkata police.
With a few more days left for Republic Day, Red Road is getting ready for the show.
“The barricades have been placed in four layers at a small gap near the south gate of Fort William to ensure no vehicle can crash through and land on the practice parade,” said a senior Kolkata police officer.
“The Esplanade-bound ramp of the second Hooghly bridge and the entry to Kidderpore Road from Hastings are sealed with these barricades from 4am on days when there is a practice. We don’t want a rerun of 2016.”
On January 16, 2016, Corporal Abhimanyu Gaud, 21, of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was part of a contingent rehearsing their Republic Day march past when the Audi Q-7 hit him.
Sambia Sohrab, son of Mohammad Sohrab, an RJD politician who joined the ruling Trinamul Congress in 2013, was at the wheel of the
Audi, police investigation revealed.
The car had ploughed into Abhimanyu after crashing through the guardrail barricades.
Three years later, in January 2019, Sambia walked free after being acquitted of murder and serving a term more than what the charge of ‘causing death due to negligence’ demands of two years.
The entire area is covered with CCTVs that are powerful enough to read a vehicle’s number even in fog.
“All practice sessions have senior officers from different units present to ensure there is no re-run of such incident,” the police officer said.