The foot overbridge at the Chingrighata crossing of the EM Bypass in east Kolkata is likely to be inaugurated in a couple of weeks, urban development department officials said.
Police officers hope the foot overbridge, once functional, will cut down waiting time for vehicles at the crossing by reducing pedestrian movement on the road and also bring down the number of accidents.
Vehicles now have to wait for a long period at the signals of the busy intersection because many pedestrians walk across the road.
“The agency that has constructed the overbridge has handed the structure to the urban development department. All formalities such as stability check have been completed,” said an official of the department.
The date of inauguration is likely to be finalised on Monday when senior officials of the urban development department are scheduled to meet their counterparts in Kolkata police.
The foot overbridge has been built at an estimated cost of around Rs 7 crore. Construction started in late-2018. The structure will connect Chaulpatty Road in the west with Jal Vayu Vihar in the east over the Bypass, next to the eastern drainage canal at the Chingrighata crossing. KMDA officials said the overbridge had been built considering the heavy pedestrian movement at the crossing.
Chingrighata is a key intersection since it connects the Kolkata airport, Salt Lake and New Town to large parts of central and south Kolkata.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had recently voiced her concern about accidents at Chingrighata.
“Why is there an accident at Chingrighata every day? Kolkata police say this place is not ours and Bidhannagar police say only this much is ours. Why will common people suffer because of your ego?” she had said at an administrative meeting on November 17.
