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Behala Back On Track: Traffic Eases, Pavements Cleared

By Unregistered Visitors, Section Roads in Kolkata
Posted on Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 02:17:49 AM EST

At long last things are looking up in Behala. The scraps and junk cars have vanished from tram tracks. Pavements are also free of trash. It's as if the authorities have woken up from a deep slumber.

"Suddenly, Diamond Harbour Road is looking a lot wider," gushes Arpan Bose, a Barisha resident.

"The Times of India article (Hell Town) shook us up. People took to the streets. It's the people of Behala -- be it police, municipal corporation or local pressure groups -- who are out to prove that change for the betterment is always possible, however impossible it may seem to be," said Arun Ghosh, South Suburban Traders' Association secretary.

Only a day after the TOI report came out, local councillors resolved to shake off the `underdeveloped' tag from Behala. Hawker encroachment was their first target. "Cutting across party affiliation, we decided to draw a line on the pavement. Hawkers' Associations have agreed to the stick to the line," said Kolkata Municipal Corporation Borough 13 chairperson Ratna Sur.

"Indeed, change is in the air. The TOI article acted as the catalyst," KMC chairman Nirmal Mukherjee. "We need to sustain the development. Cosmetic changes may boost our confidence but unless some meaningful changes are brought about, the confidence would be wasted. We are speeding up the process of laying a new road to decongest some of the key arterial roads," he added.

Even the seemingly impossible traffic tangle is being straightened out. "We have been using all our strength to clear the mess with the help of volunteers. But it is a short-term solution. We need more traffic sergeants and sub-inspectors who can not only enforce law but can also penalise errant drivers," said a traffic officer of South 24-Parganas.

The impact is immediate. "For the last few days, I have been getting through signals with ease and reaching home quicker. Earlier I used to get stuck for 10 to 15 minutes at one crossing and Diamond Harbour Road always gave me the jitters. But it has been easy for the last few days. If this continues, then it would definitely be a meaningful change," said paediatrician D P Mukherjee, a resident of Jayashree Park.

ASP (industrial) D P Singh, DSP (traffic) P K Nandy, Krishnendu Poddar of Nagarak Committee, Shakti Mondal of Hawkers Committee and representatives of the Kolkata Environment Improvement Project sat together to chalk out long-term solutions to the traffic chaos of Behala. "The portion where trams are not plying will be better utilised. We are working out a traffic circulation plan keeping in view the pipe-laying job in the rest of Behala," said Nandy.

Source:The Times Of India,01-06-07

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