CM to hold meet with Chief Secy, govt officials on fate of Talla Bridge

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will sit for a discussion with the Chief Secretary and other officials of the state government regarding Talla Bridge on Friday. Banerjee has already got the report submitted by RITES, where the demolition of the bridge has been proposed.

According to sources, the state government had appointed RITES to conduct a survey of the bridge after complaints of bad condition came up from different sources.

After conducting the survey, RITES submitted the report at Nabanna where they proposed to demolish the Talla Bridge and build a new one as it has been deemed unfit for vehicular movement.

Following the report submitted by RITES, Mayor Firhad Hakim again ordered an inspection. As per the order on Wednesday, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), PWD officials, railway officials and other engineers inspected the bridge and advised to stop movement of heavy vehicles on it.

On Thursday, the state Transport department has been asked to chalk out alternative routes for buses which ply through Talla bridge, after discussing with Kolkata Police along with Bidhannagar and Barrackpore Police.

After the Transport department publishes notification in this regard, Kolkata Traffic Police may also publish a notification mentioning the diversion routes.

Meanwhile, it has already been decided that three height barriers will be constructed on the three approach roads of Talla Bridge within a month, to stop the movement of heavy vehicles.

It is, however, assumed that movement of such vehicles will be restricted shortly by police, several days before the construction of the height barriers. Only small vehicles will be allowed to ply on the bridge and police may also fix a speed limit.

The height barriers will be eight feet high and Rs 26 lakh will be the cost of their construction. Meanwhile, questions have cropped up regarding diversion of buses as such heavy load of traffic on R G Kar Road and Cossipore Lock Gate Bridge may result in huge traffic congestion.

To avoid such a situation, police may request the Transport department to divert the bus routes before Chiria More via Dum Dum Road. But before taking the decision, discussion with Barrackpore Police is essential to see whether such a huge load can be managed or not.

Apart from restriction of vehicular movement, the LPG pipeline on Talla Bridge will also be moved in order to reduce the weight on the bridge, which was built 62 years ago. Several other decisions regarding the bridge will be taken after the meeting at Nabanna on Friday.