DOUBLE SAFETY: New guardrails, built as an extension to the existing ones, are being added to Howrah bridge to prevent suicides. Calcutta Port Trust, the custodian of the 75-year old bridge, is spending around 
Rs 36 lakh on the steel guardrails on both sides.

“We received a request from Calcutta police to set up these guardrails as there have been many instances of people jumping off the bridge into the Hooghly,” a port trust spokesperson said. The work is likely to be completed in about three months. The new guardrails are about 3 feet high, installed over the existing ones of a similar height. Once work is complete, the bridge will have six-feet-high barriers on both sides. 

Picture by Pradip Sanyal