Sealdah is one of the busiest transit points in the country itself. Very recently, there have been drastic changes foran all-out facelift, presently in progress, that will not only ensure smooth traffic management but will also enhance the security aspect of the area.
Sealdah is one of the busiest transit points in the country itself. Very recently, there have been drastic changes for an all-out facelift, presently in progress, that will not only ensure smooth traffic management but will also enhance the security aspect of the area.
Earlier, inside the police station, the GRP used to take care of the situation and the RPF looked after the near vicinity. Kolkata Traffic Police officials faced difficulty in handling the traffic congestion of the area and now the ongoing East-West Metro construction has aggravated the situation. Thus, the resulting situation very badly demands a complete overhaul. The Kolkata Traffic Police will now look into the traffic movement within the premises of the Sealdah station. After all, more than 15 lakh people use Sealdah station every day.
First and foremost, a separate Kolkata Police team is going to assist the GRP to tackle the situation which includes an Inspector, 3 Sergeants, 4 Assistant Sub-Inspectors, 10 constables and 20 Civic Volunteers. One way traffic system has been initiated already and guard rails with iron railings have been installed in the interest of the local commuters. 39 CCTV cameras have already been installed and a dedicated control room has been setup to monitor the situation day in and day out. Apart from that 2 VMS boards are also going to be installed along with them for the local commuters. For the convenience of the railway commuters, a pre-paid taxi booth with the newly updated meter will be inaugurated soon. In fact, all those taxi drivers will now need to register their names and destination per trip with the passengers. There will be a separate pedestrian footpath and the whole target is to motivate people to use the subway which have been mostly under-utilised by the local commuters. Manual drop gates are tobe used henceforth and overall there will be traffic diversions so that there isn’t any congestion on the Sealdah bridge. Once the underground parking facilities are opened for public, onecan definitely expect a much clear area round-
the-clock near Sealdah station. A separate road near the NorthGate is also expected to boost traffic movement.
According to Sumit Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic Department, Kolkata: “No doubt we are looking to have a major overhaul around Sealdah station. On one hand, crowd management is one target and on the other, we are also keen to ease the traffic movement. In fact, we are expecting a much smoother pedestrian movement in the days to come.”
Jiban Kumar Dutta, Officer-in-Charge, Sealdah Traffic Guard looked very optimistic about the new changes. He remarked: “The micro-level planning with regard to Sealdah stationarea is already paying rich dividends. We have already got dedicated lanes for app cabs, auto-rickshaws, meter taxis. We have earmarked drop points for private cars and have also specified area for police and army vehicles. Since 17th June this year, the Sealdah Traffic Guard has taken responsibility of the area. As of now, since the Metro work is going on and construction of pedestrian path is also in progress, we are allowing two crossing points to move from Sealdah towards NRS Hospital as well as to the vicinity of Rajabazar.”
There is no denying the fact that Sealdah area is densely congested due to NRS Hospital, BR Singh Hospital, Kole market and other keysegments. But one can definitely expect swift traffic movement in the days to come. The beautification of the VIP parking zone and removal of illegal encroachers has truly toned up the aesthetic aspect other than the pedestrian movement. Before any macro-level planning is approved, Sealdah can obviously expect a newerlook to facilitate smooth movement of pedestrians, commuters and of course all kinds of vehicles.
By our Correspondent
