Frankfurt/Calcutta: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday outlined how the fallen Majerhat bridge would be rebuilt, saying her government and the railways would work in tandem throughout to ease the traffic congestion in that part of the city.
"We have fixed a year as the deadline. Breaking the entire bridge will take three months. Construction of pillars will take another three months. We will try to finish the rest of the work quickly," Mamata said in Frankfurt, where she is scouting for investment.
The chief minister had announced last Friday that the entire span of the Majerhat bridge would be pulled down and a new one built "within a year". The announcement came after the committee headed by the chief secretary recommended that portions of the bridge that still stand be pulled down immediately.
Several engineers and infrastructure planners have since expressed doubts about the feasibility of the deadline, mainly because of the challenges involved in building a bridge over a busy suburban rail route.
If the broken portion of the bridge were smaller in size, an alternative iron bridge could have been built very quickly, according to Mamata.
"But since pillars have to be built, it is going to take more time," she said. "Construction of the new bridge will take place under the direct supervision of the chief secretary (Malay De)."
Two new roads are already being created 500 metres apart to the east of the Majerhat bridge to connect Alipore with New Alipore across the rail tracks. This project requires the railways to set up level crossings, one of which has been confirmed, and also shift some posts.
"The railways has said two months will be needed to build one level crossing. We will bear the expenses. We got the letter from the railways yesterday," Mamata said.
A spokesperson for Eastern Railway said building a level crossing for the second road would be a challenge because of its proximity to Majerhat station. "It involves a huge realignment of the signalling system," he said.
The new level crossing has to be tuned with the signalling systems of the stations before Majerhat so that trains get a green light only when the gates are open.
