Stretches of the EM Bypass-Prince Anwar Shah Road connector that don’t have footpaths and iron guardrails need overhaul, police have written to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

Missing pavements and guardrails need to be put in place to avert accidents on one of the busiest corridors in the city’s east, the police have told the civic body.

During a recent survey of the challenges in traffic management along the Prince Anwar Shah Road connector and how to reduce accidents, senior officers of Kolkata Police observed that footpaths were missing from certain stretches.

The connector links EM Bypass in the east to Jadavpur police station in the west.

At places where footpaths were present, the railings were either missing or the paver blocks on the surface were broken.

“Without proper footpaths, pedestrians tend to take the carriageway, risking accidents. The Prince Anwar Shah Road connector has witnessed exponential growth in the vehicle count over the last few years. Unless necessary changes in road traffic infrastructure are made, it would be a challenge to reduce accidents,” a senior police officer said.

“There are several crossover points on the entire stretch of the connector, and guardrails on the footpath would help channelise pedestrians to the crossover points. Without them, the movements of pedestrians become erratic,” he said.

Since its inauguration in March 2007, the Prince Anwar Shah Road connector in the southeastern suburb of the city used to be a quiet stretch.

There were several vacant plots on either side of the road that were dotted with encroachers.

Over the years, the urban development department worked in collaboration with the KMC in removing encroachments, including makeshift garages, shops and even a few buildings that had cropped up along parts of Mondalpara and Sahidnagar, to create space for two-way traffic movement.

Senior officers said that after decades, footpaths were missing in stretches of Gangulipukur, Sahidnagar and Sapuipara areas on either side of the connector.

“The iron guardrails on the footpath are missing on the stretch between Chit Kalikapur and Avishikta crossing. We have written to the civic body to install the railings,” the officer said.

The Prince Anwar Shah Road connector used to be under the supervision of the police of Jadavpur traffic guard till senior officers realised the traffic along the thoroughfare— and its adjoining areas —was witnessing significant growth in volume, and a separate traffic guard, East Jadavpur traffic guard, was set up in 2019.

Over the next few years, this stretch has emerged as the main artery for motorists who want to reach EM Bypass parts of Garia, Tollygunge, Jadavpur and Lake Gardens.

“Electrical feeder boxes, temporary structures and roadside shops have come up in pockets that don’t have a proper footpath on either side of the connector. In some stretches, there are no paver blocks to serve as footpaths,” the officer said.

“We want the KMC to build proper footpaths and guard them with railings.”