A year after 8-yr-old’s death, Behala to get model crossing
Times of India | 4 August 2024
Kolkata: It has been exactly a year since eight-year-old Swarnanil Sarkar — a student of class II of Barisha High School at Behala Chowrasta — was mowed down by a truck while he was on his way to appear for an English test. His death had triggered a mob rampage, leading to several vehicles getting damaged and the Diamond Harbour Road Traffic Guard being partially burnt.
Now, the Lalbazar and PWD have plans to develop Behala Chowrasta as a model crossing from this year at a cost of Rs 3 crore. It will have dedicated pedestrian channels, smaller refuge bays and AI-driven traffic signalling. It will ease much of the load on the already-overburdened crossing with at least 40,000 vehicles using both lanes. “We plan a smaller refuge island. We will have dedicated channels for pedestrians on all corners of the crossing (now, it’s only towards Barisha School side). PWD also wants proper laning and routes marked in specific colours for merging traffic. The PWD wants to replicate a model it found useful in Maharashtra,” said a source.
Ever since that accident, though, Behala Chowrasta has changed forever — the pavements have been cleared of all squatters and shops. Two drop gates were also set up — one in front of Sarkar’s school, the other opposite Biren Roy Road West for pedestrians.
Cops are always present at this key crossing. All across the crossing, pedestrian barriers have been put up by PWD making it impossible for jaywalking and Metro has further illuminated the area. Two additional signals have come up on the Taratala-bound flank and autos from Biren Roy Road West have to take two U-turns, from near Vivekananda College for Women and again from DH Road guard before it can get on to the Biren Roy Road West again.
Chowrasta has emerged as one of the success stories for Kolkata Traffic Police like Chingrighata. The boy’s mother, Dipika Sarkar, has since taken up a job in New Town. His father, Saroj Sarkar, who ran a grocery store then, now runs an eatery. “I rarely take that road as memories haunt. I just wish that the arrangements that I see now were also in place on that fateful day,” she told TOI.
However, daily commuters point to several issues that still remain. “The autos have been provided spots for parking. But these are still parked haphazardly. The buses don’t follow lanes and autos and slower-moving vehicles obstruct passengers from boarding the buses. The right turn towards Biren Roy Road West and the left turn to Rammohan Roy Road is messy and traffic gets caught up, allowing pedestrians to walk on the road despite all provisions for footpath and pedestrian channels,” said Dipankar Sinha, a local resident.