Kolkata: The state Transport department will continue to run trams in the city but at the same time will ensure that there is no traffic congestion due to its running.
An advisory committee has already been formed under the directions of Calcutta High Court which will suggest a way to preserve trams in Kolkata.
“It is true that we will not be able to run trams on all the routes in the city that they used to run in yesteryears. But we are working on reviving all the possible routes where trams can be run. It is true that at a time when vehicular pollution is an issue, trams are an eco-friendly mode of transport, but at the same time we have to ensure that traffic congestion does not happen with the trundling of trams,” state Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty said.
According to Chakraborty, before Independence, trams used to run in 15 places in the country that included Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur, Gujarat (Bhavnagar) and Kolkata. However, the vehicles have been stopped in all places except Kolkata due to traffic congestion.
“Traffic management in Kolkata is surely among the best and electronic surveillance is extremely strong. Vehicle mobility in the city is better in comparison to almost all the metro cities and the number of accidents is also comparatively less. So the challenge lies in continuing tram service without affecting mobility,” he added.
Presently, there are three routes in the city in which tram services are available that include Ballygunge-Tollygunge, Gariahat-Dharmatala and Dharmatala-Shyambazar. As per a survey by the Transport department — the Kidderpore-Dharmatala and Rajabazar-Dalhousie tram services can be run.
The department had plans to run trams through the loop line as heritage in the Maidan area, but the Army, the custodian of the area, did not accord permission in this regard and hence the proposal was shelved.
However, a senior Transport department official doubted whether trams can be run on a permanent basis simultaneously in all these five routes.
Last Monday, the division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya directed the committee to hold its first meeting within two weeks and place the minutes of the meeting before the court.
The committee includes state transport department officials, members of the Calcutta Tram Users Association, a group of tram lovers, a green activist, a member of the state heritage commission and a former director general of the town planning department of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.