A 16-km stretch of a busy road that has not had a streetlight for many years will finally have some.
Basanti Highway has been one of Kolkata's most accident-prone roads and many people who had to travel through that stretch to reach the Calcutta Leather Complex or Cognizant’s office have complained that it is scary after dark.
Nothing worked until Kolkata police commissioner Soumen Mitra arrived on that stretch during an inspection, said some officers.
A series of meetings with PWD and South 24-Parganas district officials followed and finally work on illuminating the stretch, which leads to the Sector VI Industrial Township (erstwhile Bantala Special Economic Zone), has started.
“We have requested the district magistrate of South 24-Parganas and the PWD to execute the work of installing lights on a stretch of Basanti Highway from EM Bypass to Gate 3 of Calcutta Leather Complex,” said Arijit Sinha, deputy commissioner of police, traffic.
“We have also proposed to set up metal beams and crash barriers to avoid accidents.”
Sources said an amount of Rs 65 lakh had been allocated to the PWD from the Nirbhaya fund, which was set up in 2013 to finance projects nationally for safety and security of women, to implement the project.
Apart from repairing defunct lights, the money will be spent on setting up light posts between Calcutta Leather Complex and Bhojherhat.
“Basanti Highway remains the main thoroughfare to reach the Sector VI Industrial Township, which the state government is building up on 2,727 hectares to promote leather goods industry, from the city,” said Badri Narayan Kar, the CEO of the Sector VI Industrial Township Authority.