Soon, SER to set up new foot overbridge at Santragachi Station
Kolkata: The South Eastern Railway (SER)has decided to install a new foot overbridge within three months at Santragachi Railway Station. Senior officials have also instructed the concerned authorities to install Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras on the existing foot overbridge before Diwali, for better crowd management.
According to P S Mishra, General Manager of SER, they have decided to install the new foot overbridge as soon as possible. On Thursday, he visited Santragachi station and instructed the officials to complete the work within January 31. Sources informed that work of infrastructure development is already in progress at Santragachi. After the stampede incident, the railway authorities have decided to install the foot overbridge as early as possible and for that other works will be delayed. The new foot overbridge will be 12 metres wide and its length will be 161 metres.
Apart from installation of the foot overbridge, Mishra has also directed the officials to install more CCTV cameras in the existing foot overbridge before Diwali, as during the festival, the passenger load is likely to increase. The cameras will help the railway authorities to manage the crowd. Additional Railway Protection Force (RPF) and commercial staff will be deployed at Santragachi station during peak hours, until the foot overbridge gets completed. Apart from security management, senior officials have also directed to install new Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVM) at both entry points of the station, to avoid long queues.
According to sources, though the railway authorities are about to install more CCTV cameras, no one knew that the existing cameras were not working. After the incident, when the cameras were checked for footage, it came to light that they were not working.
On Tuesday evening, two persons died and at least 12 others were injured after a stampede occurred at Santragachi Station, when announcements were made about the simultaneous arrival of trains on platforms connected by the foot overbridge.
