Talla Bridge to bid farewell to 57-year service as state decides on demolition

Kolkata: The state government has decided to pull down the 57-year-old Talla Bridge in North Kolkata, following a review meeting at Nabanna on Friday, chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

A joint inspection team of Public Works Department (PWD) and Railways will inspect the bridge on Saturday and submit a report, after which the details of the demolition process will be worked out.

Both RITES and bridge and construction expert V K Raina have recommended that the condition of the bridge is beyond repair and it should be pulled down.

"It has been decided that the bridge will be pulled down. The PWD and Railways will do a joint inspection on Saturday and will submit a report within 15 days. The high-level committee will go through the report and take a final decision on when to

commence work for pulling the bridge down," said a senior PWD official who was present at the meeting.

It may be mentioned that there are two portions of

the bridge – one that is over

the railway track that is maintained by Railways and the other portion which is maintained by PWD.

So far it has been decided that Railways will dismantle their portion, while the remaining part will be demolished by PWD. "The entire demolition process will be a coordinated effort," the official added.

Raina, who is an international expert, has said in his report that the Talla Bridge built in 1962 has to be ultimately demolished because the bridge has lived its life. It has suffered from lack of inspection and rehabilitation, as intermittent inspections should have been done every two to three years.

The state government has banned plying of vehicles weighing more than three tonnes on the bridge since September 28.

The state government had asked the Transport department and the officers of Kolkata Police, Bidhannagar and Barrackpore commissionerates to make an alternative traffic plan to ease out the traffic flow.

"We will soon have facilities so that passengers can purchase a single ticket in a government bus and do a break journey. Now, the situation is such that a person has to make a break journey for reaching his destination and are paying for tickets for all such journeys," the official said.

Approximately 600 buses used to ply over Talla Bridge daily, but the closure of the bridge has either short-terminated or diverted the bus routes.

"We will now sit together and prepare a final traffic plan," a senior official of the state Transport department said.