'No heavy vehicles on Chingrighata flyover with immediate effect'

Kolkata: State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim on Saturday directed Kolkata Police to impose immediate restrictions on the movement of heavy vehicles on the Chingrighata flyover that connects EM Bypass with Salt Lake Sector V.

"Experts after taking stock of the bridge have opined that the blueprint of the Chingrighata bridge that was constructed during the Left Front rule was faulty. The bridge is not strong enough to withstand the constant plying of heavy vehicles. Heavy buses like Volvo and loaded trucks will not be allowed to ply here with immediate effect," Hakim said after inspecting the bridge along with the members

of the advisory committee that was formed after the cave-in of the Majerhat bridge on September 4.

Bidhannagar MLA Sujit Bose was also present along with the minister in his visit to two bridges in Ultadanga and Chingrighata.

Hakim, who has been inspecting a number of bridges in South Kolkata for the past week, took stock of the condition of four bridges in North Kolkata, including the Chingrighata bridge.

He started his journey from Aurobindo Setu (Ultandaga to Gauribari) which had already seen restrictions on heavy vehicles.

A height bar has been set up to ensure that vehicles with more than 4m height are not able to run over the bridge. The bearing of the bridge has been changed some months back but the expansion joint of the bridge needs maintenance work to make it capable of withstanding the vibration of heavy vehicles," an expert, accompanying the minister, said.

The next destination was the Ultadanga Flyover that had collapsed in March 2013. The bridge has been restored but the water of the canal that flows underneath it is polluted and acidic in nature that can cause damage to the beam of the bridge.

"Our experts will conduct periodic visits of all the bridges and will furnish a report within three months along with the measures that we need to take for repair of all the

bridges. Accordingly, we will take up the repair work," the minister said.

Hakim then visited the Ultadanga–Durgapur bridge, a stone's throw away from the Ultadanga flyover where experts suggested an immediate repair. It may be mentioned that the KMDA has already started the renovation of the bridge.

The minister informed that the advisory panel will survey all the bridges in the city and its suburbs and will submit a report within three months with recommendations on the nature of repair work that needs to be undertaken.

"We will immediately start repair work and will do the needful within a year's time," a senior KMDA official said.