Calcutta, July 21 :    Calcutta, July 21:  There's good news for residents of Behala. Alarmed at the sharp rise in traffic on Diamond Harbour Road - the city's principal link with South 24-Parganas - and the simultaneous increase in encroachments that has eaten up more than 25 per cent of its width, the government has finalised plans for building a road that will run west of and parallel to Diamond Harbour Road. The urban development department has already asked Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to submit a feasibility report. Officials are confident they can submit the report to urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya before the Pujas this year. Trinamul Congress MLA from Behala (West) Partha Chatterjee, whose constituency will benefit most from the project, said a bypass on the west, like the James Long Sarani bypass to Diamond Harbour Road's east, was a long-felt necessity. 'I am happy that the government has accepted my demand,' Chatterjee said, adding that people shuttling between the city and South 24-Parganas will also benefit from the bypass. The proposed road, according to officials, will begin near Taratala in the north. It will meet Diamond Harbour around eight km south, near Bakultala, via Parnasree and the Behala Flying Club, they add. It will ease much of the load on the already-overburdened 180-km-wide Diamond Harbour Road. Behala, comprising 18 wards and two boroughs on both sides of Diamond Harbour Road, is home to around 1.5 million people, with at least 20,000 vehicles using both lanes of the Calcutta-South 24-Parganas main road. But it is increasingly being taken over by vendors - of even green vegetables and fish - light commercial vehicles and, worst of all, auto-rickshaws, which together take up more than 50 feet of the road. The worst stretches on the road are the four-point Taratala crossing, where vehicles from Budge Budge converge as well, Behala Chowrasta and the terminals for buses on routes 14 and 3A, say South 24-Parganas traffic officials. Police officials say the resultant congestion - 'worst' during the office hours - is adding to the pollution worries of entire Behala. 'Something has to be done immediately to tackle the situation,' said Behala police station officer-in-charge Subhas Sen. Adding to the chaos is the large number of rickshaws that ferry Behala residents to and from their homes on both sides of Diamond Harbour Road. 'The rickshaws can ply in the narrow lanes but add to the chaos on the arterial road,' Sen added. The pressure on the roads in the area, say officials, is going to increase manifold because of the large number of housing projects coming up west of Diamond Harbour Road. With most of the area already occupied to the east of the road, the western flank is now witnessing a housing boom, they add. The government's plans for the Behala Flying Club will also receive a boost with the western bypass, say officials. 'A jam-free road is absolutely necessary for any plans the authorities may have for the flying institute,' they added. Diamond Harbour Road is also the only road link between Esplanade and places like Diamond Harbour, Kakdwip and Namkhana further south.