Repairs start 2 months after Salt Lake accident death
Times of India | 6 January 2025
1234 Kolkata: The New Year began with positive changes at the Salt Lake site where a Class II student had died two months ago in an accident due to factors like uneven roads, rash driving, and a bad decision on the part of the boy's mother, who was riding the scooter.
While TOI reported that nothing changed in over a month since the accident on Nov 12, work commenced on the first week of the new year with the undulated stretches being levelled and repairs being carried out on the pavement as well as the roadside drain.
"It's good to see that work has finally started on the stretch. This section of road near Salt Lake gate was crying for repairs for years. But it took a young boy's life for the authorities to wake up and start repair work to make the stretch safe for motorists. We just hope the authorities do not limit the repairs to this one portion and fix the uneven road stretches across the township," said Parama Roy, a Salt Lake resident who frequently drives past the stretch.
TOI wrote on Dec 12 that despite assurances from civic and police authorities regarding comprehensive road repairs and safety measures, the only visible changes were two speed bumps installed near the accident site.
On Nov 12, an 11-year-old boy, who was returning home from school on a scooter with his mother and cousin, died after sustaining fatal injuries when his head bumped against one of two racing buses passing by at Salt Lake gate near Hudco crossing. All three two-wheeler riders were flung on to the road while the mother was trying to negotiate an uneven stretch.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee was quick to react to the accident and asked cops to act tough on the racing drivers, both of whom were arrested and booked with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Prodded by the CM's reaction, a team of Bidhannagar traffic guard and engineers of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation officials conducted an examination of the accident spot and promised a slew of measures.
"It took us some time to start the on-ground work since we had to follow a few procedures related to the issuance of tender and selection of contractor to do the repair work. We identified all the problem points and will finish the repair work at the earliest," said a senior official of BMC.
The official said they started the work with levelling the saucer drains to the surface of the road and repair of the pavements. Next, they will level the raised metal covers of telecom cables that the woman involved in the accident struggled to negotiate before they work on repairing the potholes and craters along the stretch, said officials.
"We have already removed the encroachments from the site and have also deployed more police in the area, especially during peak office hours and school dispersal times. We are also running a campaign on making parents aware of the importance of making their wards wear helmets, and many are following the rules now," said an officer of Bidhannagar police's traffic department.