Kolkata: The Kolkata Traffic Police used Tuesday to fine-tune its plans for the next 48 hours. They chased away vehicles that tried to park near hotspots, such as Alipore zoo and Victoria Memorial, and tried out traffic diversions that can eventually help decongest the morning hotspots, such as Alipore zoo and Victoria Memorial.
This included diverting bigger vehicles from Alipore Road-DL Khan Road instead of Bhawani Bhawan for SSKM Hospital-bound vehicles, and Queensway-Kidderpore Road for vehicles headed to Kidderpore and Howrah. The cops also will not allow 2-way movement on Park Street after 10 pm on Wednesday, the plan being to allow 2-way movement only after 3 am on Jan 1.
While some traffic tweaks did make commuting smoother, Lalbazar admitted the experiments also showed that further fine-tuning might be necessary, especially to manage the morning crowd on Dec 31 and Jan 1.
Overall, smooth pedestrian flow and traffic will top Kolkata Police's priority list on the last day of the year, with cops planning to set up double-lane channels for revellers on Park Street throughout the day.
Barricading was also strengthened opposite Alipore zoo on Tuesday, especially after an accident involving a pedestrian and a taxi left Jharna Mondal (39) injured around 9 am.
Another 250 men will be on duty around Maidan and Esplanade. Cops will also stop people from loitering and blocking eatery entrances.