After years of suspended animation, construction of Jatragachi bridge to resume

 Debashis Sen, chairman of West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO) said as the construction of Metro railway was hindering the work of the bridge, engineers of HIDCO and Metro authorities held a series of meetings and resolved the impasse.

“The target for opening the bridge is December,” he maintained. The bridge is coming up next to the Biswa Banga convention centre, the construction of which is going on in full swing. The construction of the bridge began during the Left Front regime, but it remained unfinished. Anyone passing through New Town can notice the bridge, which has been under construction for several years now.

The problem aggravated when the construction of Metro railway, connecting Rajarhat and Garia, began. As the Metro travels on elevated tracks, pillars have been built which makes the situation more complicated. Engineers of HIDCO and Kolkata Metro sat together and chalked out plans to ensure that construction of neither projects was affected.

The bridge will connect two areas situated along the canal. The areas are densely populated and there are high chances of road accidents. The construction of the bridge will help reducing traffic congestion and will minimise chances of accidents.

The decision to complete the bridge has been taken at a time when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken up the ‘Safe Drive, Save Life’ project.

The construction of the bridge is now gathering pace. Though a part of the overhead structure has been built, the approach roads are yet to be constructed. Many people thought that the bridge would never  be completed and the sight of the unfinished bridge would spoil the skyline of New Town.

As traffic along Biswa Banga Sarani has gone up, it had become a major problem to cross the road.

The bridge would help the residents to cross the road without any trouble. The construction of the bridge at the site was a part of the master plan of New Town.