New Town: Residents of New Town and regular commuters to the township have expressed apprehension about a giant metal globe hanging from the towering Kolkata Gate near the Rabindra Tirtha intersection.
The globe, which according to a Hidco engineer weighs around 200kg, had crashed on the Major Arterial Road (MAR) after a free fall of at least 40m when a pulley mechanism snapped while it was being pulled up on November 11.
The globe made of curved iron sheets wrapped around a steel structure and covered in flexes has the Bengali letter "Baw" imprinted on it.
No one was injured as the area around the gate had been cordoned off before heavy-duty hydraulic cranes got to work to pull the globe up.
Thousands of vehicles pass under the gate on the Major Arterial Road (MAR) and many wait at the bus stops near each of its four steel legs for public transport every day.
Soumyosree Chakraborty, 36, a resident of Sanjeeva Town, said she failed to understand the need to dangle a globe from the top of the gate.
"I read in the newspapers about how the globe had come crashing down. I shudder to think what would have happened had the area been open to traffic that night," Chakraborty said.
Another New Town resident, Rajdeep Ray, who stays at Greenfield Heights, accused the authorities of putting at risk the lives of thousands by placing the globe at a height of 55m above the ground.
"Technical issues can take place anytime. The fact that it fell while cranes were trying to pull it up proves that it is not at all safe," said Ray, an engineer.
Hidco had formed a technical committee to probe the fall. The primary findings put the blame on a faulty pulley, a senior official of Hidco said.
"The globe was being pulled up with cranes placed at two opposite ends. The globe itself was connected to a pulley of a crane's jib that developed a snag," said the official.
The globe suffered structural damages after the fall. "There are several dents. Even the steel hook on top that will be used to hang it is damaged," said the official.
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