Foot overbridge at Chingrighata to be thrown open to people on December 23

KOLKATA: The foot overbridge at Chingrighata will be thrown open to the public on December 23. State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Chandrima Bhattacharya along with senior officials of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) will be present during the inauguration.

The foot overbridge, which is a significant stride in preventing accidents, will have a staircase as well as escalator facilities including cycle ramp. The construction work supervised by KMDA had started in July 2020.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while addressing an administrative review meeting in North 24-Parganas on November 17, had expressed her concern over a number of accidents taking place at Chingrighata crossing in the recent past.

Two days after her announcement, state Fire and Emergency services minister Sujit Bose with senior officials from KMDA, Kolkata Police and Bidhannagar Commissionerate visited the spot for fast-tracking the work related with construction of the foot overbridge.

Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) will come up with an underpass for further smoothening the movement of common people at the crossing which has a huge flow of traffic. "RVNL needs some amount of land at the site and has taken up the matter with Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The general arrangement drawing made by RVNL has been approved by us. The detailed project report (DPR) for the underpass will be prepared only after they get the possession of land," a senior KMDA official said.

KMDA had conducted a survey with help of IIT Kharapur to ascertain the cause of accidents and curb such incidents in the Chingrighata crossing.

The underpass, which will come up, has been recommended by IIT KGP.

Cyclists are barred at Chingrighata crossing, yet people crossover from the eastern side towards Beliaghata - by foot or on cycles - to fetch water. Most of them are residents of Sukanta Nagar and Shanti Nagar, where supply of clean water is sometimes a problem. .

A 26-year-old man riding pillion on a motorcycle died after a truck allegedly hit the two-wheeler on a road leading to the Chingrighata crossing from Salt Lake on November 16.

One person died and six were injured, one of whom was a cyclist, after being hit by an allegedly speeding car that flouted a traffic signal at the intersection on November 6.

The Chingrighata crossing — where roads from Sector V, Beleghata and Chaulpatti meet — is one of the busiest intersections on the 29km-long Bypass.