Graham Rd, where severed head was dumped, evolves into ‘walking lane’
Times of India | 5 February 2025
Kolkata: Graham Road in Tollygunge has metamorphosed into a "walking lane", with the garbage dump there being cleared away, street lights installed, walls on both sides given fresh coats of paint and two cops deployed there to keep an eye. Merely one-and-a-half months earlier, a severed head was discovered in a garbage pile on the very stretch, raising alarm among residents, who highlighted the poor lighting as a major safety threat.
KMC has since not only removed the garbage dump, whose stink kept most pedestrians away, the authorities have also widened the road and set up 30-odd street lights. The boundary walls have been painted green and barbed wires installed on top to stop people from climbing over. Kolkata Police has set up a kiosk there to instil confidence among residents. Two cops have been posted and asked to take rounds. Additionally, CCTV cameras have been requisitioned to be installed there.
Graham Road connects Uday Shankar Sarani and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Road. This nearly 2-km stretch is lined with central govt complexes. Due to insufficient street lighting, many parts of the road used to be shrouded in darkness. There was only one CCTV camera and the road used to be deserted after dusk. Following the discovery of the severed head, the area's legislator and state minister, Aroop Biswas, had visited the place, along with the municipal commissioner and officials from various departments, including roads and lighting. Soon after, 30 new street lights were installed and the condition of the stretch changed.
Biswas, along with local councillor Tapan Dasgupta, inaugurated the revamped "walking lane". Local residents said they hoped the initiatives were long-term.
"Better illumination has made walking safer. We hope this initiative will not peter out," said Soumyadipta Saha, a lawyer who lives nearby. Partha Chandra and Arindam Ghosh, who live in a nearby housing complex, said they did feel a lot more confident walking on the stretch, after it had been revamped. "Outsiders used to hang around here after evening. That has stopped, too. The walking road has encouraged more locals to take a stroll there. The removal of the garbage heap has definitely helped," said Ghosh.
Dasgupta said people avoided the lane owing to poor lighting, garbage and the stench. Now, residents could jog there, he suggested. "Lights have been installed," he said.