Police have asked the PWD to construct close to a dozen speed bumps on a 6.5km stretch of Diamond Harbour Road between Taratala and Joka to ensure vehicles slow down in areas close to schools and colleges.
There are close to 15 schools and several colleges on and off DH Road. Speeding vehicles are menace for children who use the road every day.
A child was crushed under a truck while crossing the road with his father on his way to school at Taratala on August 4. A group of residents had torched police vehicles, vandalised private buses and two-wheelers and ransacked the office of the Diamond Harbour traffic guard after the death.
“We have had a meeting with PWD engineers and have asked them to set up speed bumps along the stretches of DH Road that have a school or a college,” said a senior police officer in Behala.
“The speed humpswill help in slowing down vehicles and cut down on accidents.”
Apart from Behala College, Vivekananda College and IIM Joka, the police have identified spots around some of the schools located in Panchanantala, Naskarpur, Janakalyan, Behala Chowrasta, Sakherbazar and Thakurpukur where they would want the speed humps to come up.
Road traffic engineers said a speed bump generally slows traffic to 3–15km an hour, giving both people and cars time to react safely to one another.
“Drivers tend to slow down immediately when they are aware of the presence of an obstacle on the road. But these bumps aren’t effective in the middle of a long curve or where the road takes a high gradient,” said a senior engineer from the traffic and transportation wing of the transport department.
Senior police officers said they have urged the PWD to set up these speed humps on both flanks of DH Road with signages spelling out the presence of speed breakers ahead.
“There are several nursing schools located off DH Road on this 6km stretch. The Calcutta Blind School is located off this road. Once a vehicle slows down, the chances of fatalities reduce even if there is an accident,” the officer said.
The police have also asked officials of the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), the agency implementing the Joka-Esplanade Metro project, to fence the portion beneath the viaduct with iron railings on both sides to stop crossovers.
At a recent meeting presided over by Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim, police officers told Metro representatives that since the viaduct runs along the median of the Diamond Harbour Road and is largely left open, covering up either side will prevent crossovers that often result in accidents.