KMC completes installation of foot overbridge opposite Alipore Zoo

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Tuesday completed the installation of the foot overbridge opposite Alipore Zoo.

The estimated cost of the foot overbridge is Rs 4 crore and has been constructed on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

The KMC's partner is Karukrit. There will be an escalator and the civic authorities will take a few more months to make it operational. The work has been completed on record time.

The Kolkata Police had halted traffic movement along Belvediere Road from Saturday night until Tuesday evening to facilitate the civic authorities to carry on with the work of installation.

The fabricated superstructure was brought and the civic engineers installed it on Tuesday morning ahead of the stipulated time.

The foot overbridge is likely to ease the traffic movement near Alipore Zoo.

During winters, when there is a heavy turnout of visitors at the zoo, sometimes it takes more than half an hour to reach Race Course from Zoo.

Throughout the year, there is traffic congestion as besides cars, many Vidyasagar Setu bound trucks from South 24-Parganas enter the city through this route.

Besides, the zoo, there is a star hotel, the Alipore campus of Calcutta University and National Library.

Also, this is the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's route to Nabanna from her Kalighat residence.

It may be mentioned that the Traffic department of Kolkata Police had suggested the KMC to construct foot overbridges at seven important intersections to ease traffic movement.

But due to fund constraints, the KMC found it difficult to construct the bridges on its own and decided to construct it a on PPP model.

The city police had suggested construction of a foot overbridge at Esplanade to facilitate pedestrians.

It also suggested a foot overbridge at the Shyambazar five point crossing.