• A Bailey bridge across the circular canal near Kolkata railway station
• Removal of encroachments from Canal West Road and Canal East Road so that more vehicles can ply through them
• More Metro trains till Noapara.

These were some of the options tabled at a meeting held on Thursday to deal with the traffic mess that the closure of the ailing Tallah bridge is expected to trigger.

An engineer appointed by the Bengal government to assess the condition of the 57-year-old bridge, a key link between Calcutta and the northern fringe, has said the structure is in a “rotten” state and should be pulled down.

V.K. Raina, the engineer, has said in his report that even small vehicles should not be allowed on the bridge for more than two months. Buses, trucks and other heavy vehicles are barred from the bridge.

Thursday’s meeting, called by transport secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam, reviewed the traffic situation in the area resulting from the decision to prevent buses from plying down the bridge.

An official who was present at the meeting said the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and police were asked to ascertain whether Canal East Road and Canal West Road could be utilised better. “There are encroachments along the roads. If needed, they have to be removed to widen the carriageways,” the official said.

A proposal to build a Bailey bridge across the circular canal near Kolkata railway station was also discussed.

“The Bailey bridge will allow vehicles headed towards the station from south Calcutta to avoid the congested RG Kar Road bridge. That will reduce the traffic load considerably on the bridge,” a police officer said.

“That in turn will reduce the travel time of vehicles on their way to Belgachhia from Shyambazar or vice-versa.”

A representative of Metro Railway who attended the meeting was requested to increase the number of trains running till Noapara.

“Come Monday (October 14), we will go back to our usual weekday schedule of running 108 trains till Noapara. We are trying to increase the number to 112 in a week,” a Metro official said.

“In the long run our aim is to run 120 trains till Noapara,” the official said. He did not give any hint by when the count would go up to 120.

Many daily commuters said while speaking to Metro that traffic in both directions should be allowed on the Lock Gate flyover that connects Bagbazar to BT Road, bypassing the Tallah bridge.

The Lock Gate flyover is now one-way.

“When the Tallah bridge is closed down, the police should allow at least cars to travel in both directions on the Lock Gate bridge. That will lessen the traffic load in Paikpara and Belgachhia,” said a resident of Dunlop.

Senior officials of the Bengal government who were at the meeting told this newspaper that Raina’s recommendation that small vehicles be allowed on the bridge only for two months did not mean that the structure would remain safe for that duration.

“The recommendation is aimed at giving the government some time to plan the necessary diversions,” a state public works department (PWD) official said. The PWD is the custodian of the Tallah bridge.

“We don’t want to wait for two months and would like to recommend immediate closure of the bridge.”

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to chair a meeting at Nabanna on Saturday where the next course of action will be discussed. Sources in the government said a final decision on when the bridge would be shut down could be taken on Saturday.

All Shyambazar-bound buses from north that used to ply through the bridge are now being diverted to Belgachhia from BT Road via Dum Dum or Paikpara. The diversions are triggering huge snarls in all these areas.

Commuters are complaining that it is taking as long as an hour to travel a stretch that could earlier be covered in 10 to 15 minutes.