After making Karunamoyee crossing and the Central Park fairgrounds encroachment-free, the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is working towards lighting up the footpaths on both sides of the road.
“An e-quotation has been invited by Poura Bhavan asking for bidders to supply 183W LED luminaries with fixture of indigenous make for street lighting work, through Metro Corridor Salt Lake under BMC,” said an executive engineer in the public health engineering department. The road passing through JK Saha Bridge, Karunamoyee Crossing leading to City Centre from Netaji Island will be covered under this project.
Sudhir Kumar Saha, mayoral council member in charge of lighting and parks, said: “This area used to be occupied by encroachers earlier. That is why we could not work on it. Now, it is part of the Metro corridor. Also the Book Fair will be held here for two consecutive years. So lights have become essential now.”
A BMC spokesperson said this was part of the beautification project that the civic body has taken up before the Book Fair starts on January 31 at Central Park. Funds worth Rs 2.58 crore have been sanctioned for the project.
Several residents of Karunamoyee Housing Estate have also been stressing on the need for more streetlights in the area. The footpaths earlier had a few food stalls which lit up the place. But now that they are gone, the area below the flyover is pitch dark. After sunset, it is only car lights and a couple of lamp posts on the fringe that would be on. The area near the bus stand is also shrouded in darkness.
“The government offices shut around 6pm. After that the road is almost deserted, barring autos and other vehicles moving towards City Centre. Many miscreants creep into Karunamoyee Bus Terminus taking advantage of the poor illumination and indulge in various kinds of mischief. Now that Bidhannagar Mela (Utsav) is on, the place is well lit. But once the mela season gets over the darkness would definitely be a cause for worry,” said Krishna Sen, a resident of Karunamoyee Housing Estate.
